Sworn to Remain
by HikariOni22
Summary: Sequel to Sworn to Protect. For their next mission, the Aces find themselves in Yatori, Leiko's hometown.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Haru! Focus!"

The boy's eyes widened in surprise as the wooden sword hit his left leg hard. He immediately bent down, rubbing his throbbing ankle as he looked up to his mentor.

"Sorry!"

Another hit from the training sword sounded, this time on the deck of the Unaaq. The Commander looked to his pupil, who was smiling apologetically. He sighed.

"That's it for the day," he ordered. The Ace Cadet looked both relieved and disappointed. "I do not know what's distracting you so, boy, but take the day to fix it."

Haru stood up and nodded.

"Thank you."

The boy hadn't quite left yet, but already Akio felt arms wrapping around his waist from behind, and Leiko's chin nuzzling against his shoulder.

"Come on, I think you're being a bit hard on the boy," she said.

Her speaking had her breath tingle against his neck. He suppressed a smile and kept a serious face.

"This is the kind of thing that'll get him killed. A moment of inattention can have disastrous consequences. This isn't something to take lightly."

Haru's eyes widened a bit and he pursed his lips before opening his mouth to respond. Leiko didn't give him the opportunity to do so, cutting him off as she rolled her eyes.

"I think you're being a bit dramatic, Akio."

She squeezed him softly. The Ace Cadet hovered in place for a couple seconds. He kept glancing to the side, then to his shoes. He always had a hard time being reprimanded. He took a deep breath before he could look the Commander in the eyes and withstand his – almost – permanently serious glare.

"I'll work on it. I promise."

Akio threw the training sword his way.

"That's what I like to hear."

The boy caught it with a steady hand and nodded. He looked to Akio, then Leiko, then Akio again before leaving. When they were finally left alone, the Commander softly broke away from the Hammer-wielder's embrace as he turned to face her, frowning slightly.

"You can't keep doing that."

She smiled mischievously without breaking eye contact.

"What? Undermining your authority?"

He couldn't hide a small smile, although he tried to remain somewhat stoic.

"No. Well, yes, in a sense. But mainly, you need to understand that the boy needs someone to be hard on him. He has so much potential, and I will not let it go to waste. Besides, you know just as well as I do that I'm right." He hesitated slightly. "Inattention is a hunter's greatest threat."

By the end of his speech, his face had grown entirely serious again. There was some sort of far off look in his eyes, like he was remembering a not quite so distant memory. She wrapped her arms around him and lay her cheek against his chest to pull him out of his dark thoughts.

"All I'm saying," she begun, "Is that you shouldn't put too much pressure on him. He'll end up breaking under it."

Akio was about to argue, but she stood up on her toes and shut him up with a kiss.

"And the same goes for you," she whispered softly.

He let out a long sigh through the tiny smile that played on his lips.

"You are impossible," he breathed.

* * *

When she entered their room, that night, he was already sitting on their bed. Clad in nothing but his underwear, he was sipping at a glass of water and looked at her. She nodded as only greeting, knowing full well that any attempt at a smile she would make would only tip him off more.

Slowly, she started taking off her armour. The only sound breaking the silence was her undoing the straps of it.

"I would very much like to know what is bothering you," Akio finally spoke.

She stopped what she was doing, slowly turning around to face him. She faked ignorance.

"What do you mean?"

He looked her in the eyes, locking his gaze in hers as if daring her to look away. She didn't.

"Leiko..." he trailed off, hoping that this would be enough prompting from him.

It wasn't, and all she did was bite her lip. He knew she was looking to buy some time, and decided to give it to her. As he did so, gratefulness shone in her eyes.

"This is something I would like to be aware of, both as your Commander, and as someone who cares about you. We can't arrive in Yatori without being completely prepared for the task at hand."

The thought of their docking at the town, the next day, had her stomach in knots. She sighed deeply, as if gathering her courage. He never took his eyes off of her half-armoured self.

"I was born in Yatori," she finally let out. "And, honestly, I would've much preferred never setting foot in that place again."

He nodded silently. She stood there, staring at him, knowing full well his head was full of questions, and knowing just as well that he would not push her for answers. Slowly, she continued taking off her armour. He finished drinking his glass of water. He had hardly set it down and already she threw herself at him, throwing her arms around his neck and nestling herself against his chest. She nuzzled her face against his neck.

"This is so fucked, Akio," she said, her voice muffled.

He wrapped his arms around her, holding her close and laying his chin atop her head without a word. They stayed like this for a while. Only when her breathing was completely even and her body limp against his did he lay down, her form still nestled against his chest. He let out a sigh, squeezing her softly, and closed his eyes. He fell asleep wishing he could protect her from herself.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

They arrived in Yatori early in the morning. It was a small town, mostly inhabited by farmers and a few artisans. The sun was just rising, and slowly the village was waking up. There was an atmosphere of absolute tranquillity, the feeling of a quiet life in this place. No worries, no fear, no excitement. A simple existence.

 _Nothing has changed._

Her Hammer felt heavy with meaning as it hung on Leiko's back. She watched as Akio stepped down the Unaaq and onto this land which she had forsaken. He was quickly followed by Haru, who was already looking around. One by one, they all stepped down, until the Hammer-wielder was left alone on the deck of their ship.

There was meaning in the foot she laid on the ground. She had returned to the land that had seen her grow. Waiting for them stood the village Chief's son. The last time she had seen him, he was but a boy: now, in front of them stood a man. He had grown tall and quite massive, with broad shoulders and heavy arms. Akio did all the talking, and soon they were being escorted to the Chief's house to arrange the last details of their stay and to discuss the issue at hand.

The village Chief had gotten even older. He welcomed them into his home with much thanks and offerings. Did they want to eat or drink anything? Coffee, water? The table he invited them to sit at was covered in delicious-looking food, but they all politely refused anything. They were here to work, and everything else came after.

The Chief sat down with them only after making sure he had offered everything he could. His son stood behind him silently, arms crossed over his chest.

"First of all, thank you for responding to our request for aid. This situation is quite worrying, and I'm afraid our village Hunter wouldn't have been able to handle this alone."

All of the Aces nodded, but only Akio spoke. As the Commander, he was usually the one who did most of the talking.

"There is no need to thank us, we are only doing our job," he said. "Now, if you could tell us what, exactly, has been happening to your village?"

The old man nodded slowly, resting his bony hands on the table, softly rubbing the wood with his thumbs.

"There have been herds of monsters passing through here, coming from the west. A lot more than usual, and even some we've never seen around these parts. They're destroying our fields and even some of the farms that border the village."

He paused, and so did the almost-mechanical movement of his hands.

"We thought our hunter could handle it, but this is getting a bit too much."

Only this time did Akio notice the interrogation in Leiko's eyes as the Chief mentioned Yatori's resident hunter. He, however, brushed it off, and focused his attention on the old man once again.

"I see. Could you give some examples of monsters that you have never encountered around here and have now started appearing?"

The village Chief took a moment to think, his fingers rubbing his chin.

"Let's see... There have been Royal Ludroth and their packs passing through here, even though they never venture this deep into land. The same goes for Lagiacrus. At first we thought they might be migrating, but this isn't the time of the year for it at all. We've seen Tetsucabra, as well, coming from the caves to the southwest."

"And Tetsucabra never migrate," Hideaki noted.

The old man nodded.

"Right. And I had heard of Zinogre living up in the mountains to the northwest, but now they've been showing up around here."

"Interesting," the Lancer reflected.

"So, what we have here," he continued, "Is several monsters who's migration at this time of year is highly unusual, and even monsters who never usually leave the same place in their entire life suddenly moving. What's more is, they're all coming from one direction: the west."

"Almost like they're running from something," Hana completed his thought.

"Exactly," he nodded.

Silence filled the room as the implications of this dawned on everyone. Akio was used to being the bearer of bad news, and so he was the one who broke the silence.

"We all know what this implies. Monsters usually flee from one threat: Elder Dragons."

Everyone nodded silently.

"The fact that these monsters are coming from the West takes out a few possible candidates. The absence of an active volcano nearby eliminates Teostra and Lunastra, and the absence of jungle, Chameleos. It's recent demise means no Kushala Daora, and it's defeat in Dundorma rules out the Lao-Shan Lung."

All of the Aces followed Akio's train of thought. He continued.

"The Kindred Hunter has taken out the Shagaru Magala, and it is highly unlikely that another one will be born so soon. Both Amatsumagatsuchi and Alatreon have been known not to leave their territory, and them being out of it would be very worrying in itself. This leaves any of the sea-faring Elder Dragons, and some others."

Leiko took over.

"It's highly unlikely that any of the aquatic Elder Dragons are to blame. No monster would have to come this far to be out of their reach: the ocean is about a three weeks' walk away. Furthermore, there's a great river that goes up north from the sea: if that's where the threat was, there would be no Lagiacrus or Royal Ludroth coming as far as here."

The village Chief was now staring at Leiko, no doubt surprised by her intimate knowledge of the lands nearby. She, however, was too invested in her explanation to notice. She kept talking.

"Besides, the fact that none of the Leviathans have gone up that river means that the threat isn't just coming for the west, but the northwest. This also explains the presence of Zinogre, who live in the mountains there."

All eyes were fixated on her. If most of the Aces hadn't known the Hammer-wielder had grown up around here, they now understood. The Chief still stared at her intently, light slowly filling his eyes, but he said nothing.

"The Elder Dragon would also have to be aggressive and powerful enough to drive monsters away from their natural habitat. This leaves us with two choices: the Fatalis, or the White Fatalis."

This left all of the Aces in dark thoughts. Silence once again filled the room, and only now that she had finished talking did Leiko look over to the village Chief. As their eyes met, a wide smile lit up his face.

"You're Leiko, right?"

Her eyes widened, and she immediately shrunk back into her seat. Akio cringed, but he knew, ultimately, that he could do nothing.

"You must have me confused with someone else..." she begun, but the old man cut her off.

"I can hardly believe it! It really is you! Look at you, all grown up! My, what a beautiful young woman you've become!"

He got up and walked over to her: she watched him come towards her, somehow keeping her composure. But Akio saw as clear as day the fear and hurt that she tried to hide: this was exactly what she had hoped to escape. He tightened his fists, his nails biting into the skin of his palms, but he did nothing.

"Seven years, it's been! We all thought you were dead! It's so wonderful that you've come back! And as one of the Ace Hunters, no less!"

She decided faking a smile was the best course of action. She appreciated that the other Aces did not ask any questions. There was, however, bitterness in her next words.

"My parents must be _so proud_."

The old man either did not pick up on the sarcasm, or ignored it entirely. She assumed the latter. He beamed at her, then at his son, who was somewhat confused.

"Don't you recognize her? It's Leiko! Aniki's daughter!"

The lad had been fairly young when she had left, but still, recognition sparked in his eyes at her father's name. He had a wide smile.

"I hadn't recognized you!" he said as he approached her. "Wow, you've changed a lot! I never expected you'd get this beautiful!"

He blushed without realizing his backhanded compliment. She glared at him, but still he didn't understand. His father and him talked at her for a couple moments more before the young man came uncomfortably close to Leiko, taking her hand in his. She retracted, but she was cornered between him and the chair, and there was no way she could back up without falling over. He didn't pick up on her apparent uneasiness.

"How about you and I..."

He hadn't seen Akio get up and walk over to their side of the table, and was surprised when the Commander stood firmly between him and the Hammer-wielder. Towering over the boy, he had his shoulders squared and his chin held high.

"Back off," he growled, and the threat in his voice surprised even him. "Can you not see she is uncomfortable?"

The boy took a step back, holding his hands up in front of him, muttering apologies. Leiko was looking up at Akio with her eyes wide, half-relieved, half-bewildered. She had not seen him this angry in a while. She stood up and softly took his hand in hers.

"It's okay," she said, addressing both him and the boy.

The Commander's shoulder fell back as he calmed down, but the Chief's son didn't quite relax. The tension was still high in the air, and Hideaki stood up to break it.

"I believe we have all the information we want for now," he said. This reminded Akio what they were here for.

He let out the breath he didn't know he had been holding.

"I apologize," he uttered, "It seems I have let my temper get the best of me."

The Chief, who had been looking at him with a mix of surprise and disapproval, softened at this apology.

"It's quite alright," he said. "My son also has something to learn about personal boundaries."

The boy shrunk back into himself, giving a nervous smile. Haru and Hana both got up and picked up their weapons they had laid aside, as did all the other Aces. As they were leaving, the Gunner flashed the Commander a mocking smile to which he did not respond. He, however, turned back to the Chief and his son, still holding Leiko's hand.

"We will inform you of any development. For now, we will decide on the best course of action, and of course take care of the monsters that are the closest threats. Thank you for receiving us."

He then followed his companions' lead. The Hammer-wielder never let go of his hand, softly rubbing her thumb against the bleeding cuts in his palm.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

There was a sort of silent agreement between the Aces as they all headed back to the Unaaq. They asked no questions, both out of respect and because they knew Leiko would give no answers.

They headed straight to the dining room, below the deck of the ship. Most times, this place was used as some sort of of conference room. As such, the crew of the ship knew not to bother the Aces when they were all gathered there, unless there was an emergency.

Leiko sat beside Akio, never letting go of his hand, still softly rubbing the cuts in his palm. Hana was looking at him somehow disapprovingly, but he paid it no mind. He knew that, if there was really something she wanted to talk about, she would not hesitate to tell him.

"Before we notify the guild about the coming of an Elder Dragon, we need to know without a doubt what we are dealing with. As such, I would like to send Hana, Hideaki and Leiko out on the ship to identify the threat."

Leiko's hand squeezed his a little and a spark of hope lit up her eyes.

"That's a stupid idea," Hana shut him down.

He only looked at her questioningly. Had this been anyone else, he would have had an entirely different reaction, but he trusted the Gunner's judgement more than he trusted himself.

"This is an Elder Dragon we're talking about. If it is, indeed, coming this way, we need to fortify the town right away. We don't know how far or how close to here it is, and we'd have to spend god knows how long searching for it. We don't have that kind of time."

The Commander nodded, closing his eyes to think as he let out a sigh.

"You're right. Still, we need to find a way to be certain what the threat is."

It is then that Haru piped up, his eyes lighting up with the spark of an idea.

"Leiko said it's probably coming from the northeast, right?"

All of the eyes turned to him: it simultaneously made him feel nervous and in control. The Hammer wielder nodded.

"Well, Kyoko and the Caravan are around there. They're in the mountains you were talking about, I think. Are those very far away?"

Leiko took the time to think before giving an answer.

"About a month's walk away, for us. If we sailed around, maybe a little less."

Haru nodded.

"Right. So, I could ask her to look out for an Elder Dragon? Now that I think about it, she did mention they were going there because there was an abnormal amount of strong monsters gathering in the mountains."

None of them dared to utter the name of the Fatalis, as if saying it would prophesize it's arrival. For all of them, the black dragon was but a legend from far away. Of course, they had heard of it's defeat in Castle Schrade, all those years ago, but that was exactly what made them think it would never return. Now, even if it's presence was a mere possibility, that possibility itself chilled them all to the bone.

They were all lost in thought for a moment. Hana snapped out of it first as she realized something.

"Wait, how do you know all this?"

The Ace Cadet gave a sly smile, his cheeks becoming a light pink.

"I've been keeping in touch."

The Gunner smiled back, giving him a knowing look, but none of the other Aces seemed to get what she had understood. She sat back in her seat, crossing her arms under her chest. Akio took this as an opportunity to get back on track.

"That's a great idea, Haru," he said. The boy visibly lightened up at the praise. "Send a letter to the Kindred Hunter and ask her to look out for what might be a Fatalis."

The Commander himself cringed a bit as the word crossed his lips, but he carried on.

"And in any case, we need to notify the other villages that might be in whatever Elder Dragon's path."

"There are none," Leiko noted. "If it's really coming this way from the northeast, and if it's really heading here in particular, there's nothing between Yatori and the mountains. The plains and forest there are too dangerous to ever be able to establish a village."

"Which brings me to my point," Hideaki finally intervened, "Why here? Whatever Dragon this is, why would it head towards here?"

Silence fell over the Aces as they all thought, then looked to Leiko for an answer. She had, however, none to give and simply shrugged.

"I have no clue."

"We're not even sure it's headed here, anyway," Hana settled. "We'd better wait for an answer from Kyoko before deciding anything."

She stood up and stretched, reaching for her Gun which she had laid on the back of her seat.

"For now, I'm going to head out and do what we're here for: clear the threat around the village."

She slung her weapon over her shoulder.

"Who's coming?"

Haru jumped to his feet, but as he did so he remembered a more pressing matter.

"I want to go," he begun, "But I have to write and send the letter to Kyoko first. You want to wait for me?"

"I'm coming too," Leiko said before Hana could answer. "We can wait for Haru, right?"

She got up and picked up her Hammer as she spoke, letting go of Akio's hand. He crossed his arms over his chest.

"I will stay here. I would like to meet this village's hunter, since we shall be working together in the future."

Hideaki nodded silently. The Hammer wielder turned towards the Commander, something in her stance noting uncomfortableness and worry. Her tone, however, only betrayed curiosity.

"You tell me what they're like when we get back, okay?"

Akio simply nodded, shooting a glance at Hana, who had noticed Leiko's worry and was now looking at her with interrogation in her eyes. He had a feeling the Gunner would figure out what this was all about long before the Hammer wielder deigned reveal it. Haru, in the meantime, had already run off to write his letter.


	4. Chapter 4

Finally! Sorry for the wait, I was on holiday this month. Here is Chapter 4!

* * *

Chapter 4

"So, who might Yatori's hunter be, and how do you know him?" Hana opened Pandora's box.

Leiko kept her composure almost perfectly, although a twitch of her eyebrow escaped her control. The Gunner showcased a shit eating grin that meant she knew very well she had hit her mark. In hunting and all else, she rarely ever missed it.

"I don't," the Hammer wielder lied, stalling for time.

In an act of immense grace, Hana went along with it.

"Don't you?"

Haru was well aware of what was happening, but reluctant to side with anyone. The Caravaneer of the Capital C Caravan had told him on several occasion that this kind of thing was 'woman talk', or however he'd called it. The boy hadn't quite understood what he meant by that, or by any of the rowdy speeches he had then delivered, but he'd gotten the gist of it: don't get involved, or you'll regret it. So he walked along, not saying a word, although his curiosity had him staring at the two women and listening intently.

Leiko stared straight ahead, not risking a glance at the Gunner, who was still looking at her with a grin. The Hammer wielder was drumming her right thumb against a bit of her armour, her mind racing. Hana had learned to identify that kind of body language and let the silence stretch out.

"Honestly," Leiko sighed, "I don't know who this village's hunter is."

She let this out as if it was a secret, her shoulders slouching like a weight had been pushed off them. Hana knew the Hammer wielder wasn't above lying to avoid talking about things, obviously, but Leiko wasn't a good actor. This led the Gunner to believe she was telling the truth. She took a moment to think, her fingers playing with one of the straps that kept her gun on her back.

"But you know who you _don't_ want it to be," the older woman ended up saying through the grin that had never left her face.

Leiko sighed. Hana continued.

"It can't be because he's incompetent. You wouldn't care so much if it was just that. It's someone you know... or knew. Someone you didn't want to see again."

"Oh, so we're playing Hana-guesses-my-life-situation-with-no-prior-context again are we?"

Although she was somewhat exasperated, an amused smile played across the Hammer wielder's lips. The Gunner had an uncanny ability to understand situations she had very little to do with from simple cues. Hideaki had compared it to a sixth sense. Usually, when faced with such accusations, Hana's response was that shit eating grin, like she knew all of the world's secrets.

"You're damn right. And I'll win, like I always do."

The younger girl crossed her arms over her chest.

"Why don't we focus on what we're here for and hunt instead of playing games?" she said.

Hana snickered.

"Sure thing, honey."

In a quick movement of her wrist, she unstrapped her Bowgun from her back, barrel pointed in front of them, a bit to the right. Two quick head signals were all it took for the other two to get out their weapons and start slowly advancing.

It was hard to see, and if Hana hadn't been there they wouldn't have noticed it until they got a lot closer, but it was there: a Royal Ludroth, closely followed by it's pack. Leiko quickly counted the Ludroth, gesturing to her companions about five of them.

She heard the characteristic click of a Bowgun ready to be fired, and did not even have to look back to see the Gunner's signal. The shot flew in a perfect line, lodging itself in one of the Ludroth's skull, sending brains splatter everywhere.

The other beasts immediately realized what was happening, but weren't quick enough: Leiko's Hammer, for one, crushed one's head against the ground, and Haru's sword plunged into another's neck.

Only two Ludroth remained, but it's underlings' deaths enraged the Royal Ludroth. It lunged at the Cadet, who blocked it's fangs with his shield and countered with a slash that cut up the monster's spongy mane. It let out a roar, and Hana's shots tore through the rest of it's underlings.

Leiko had taken this time to climb up a small hill opposite the Gunner's position, and there was a certain glint in her eyes as the beast moved into position. She took a run up, her feet hardly touching the ground, before leaping onto the Royal Ludroth.

She landed on the Leviathan's back with a thump and gripped onto it's mane with one hand. She steadied herself with her legs, and started hitting.

The monster tried to shake her off, jumping around relentlessly as she delivered hit after hit with her Hammer. Haru jumped between it's legs, cutting at them so it couldn't focus on ejecting Leiko. Hana was shooting steadily, her face half-serious, half-amused.

The Gunner had fought Royal Ludroth before. Not a lot of them, mind you, but she had. So when she saw this one contort it's body in a way it only did when preparing to roll over, she was worried for a second.

The monster threw itself to the floor, back first, to try and crush Leiko with it's weight. A mischievous smile lit up her face.

Using the beast's momentum, the Hammer wielder leaped up to escape her fate. The monster did not have the time to react, exposing it's soft underbelly in it's last mistake. Leiko brought her Hammer down in a sickening crunch of the Royal Ludroth's ribs.

A shot to the head by Hana finished it off, and the monster died before it could feel any pain. Haru ran over to Leiko as she was stepping off of the corpse.

"Wow, that was amazing!" he said, extending his hand for a high five, which she gladly gave.

"Thanks," she smirked.

The Gunner made her way to them.

"Nice job," she complimented her.

Sometimes, this meant nothing more than the compliment itself. But the shit eating grin was now back on Hana's face, stronger than ever, and Leiko knew there was more to it.

"So..." the Gunner paused, revelling in the suspense, "Hopefully Yatori's hunter isn't your ex-boyfriend, am I right?"

"... Hana, what the fuck."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

There was a fleeting moment of suspense as Leiko opened the door to the conference room.

It creaked as it moved, seemingly for an eternity. It's not like she expected anyone to be there, in fact, following all logic, the room would be empty. But the Hammer wielder had some sort of weird gut-feeling, and she just couldn't shake it.

Her eyes, at first, landed on Akio. He looked up to her as he heard the door opening. In front of him was someone.

 _Of fucking course._

It was not quite despair that held Leiko in this moment. More so exasperation. A feeling like this was just some sort of sick joke. That, or life was just a bundle of unfairness with sadistic tendencies sprinkled in between.

"Well, fancy seeing _you_ here," that awfully familiar voice sounded.

Well, it was a bit deeper than the last time she'd heard it. But the sarcastic tone was unmistakable.

She'd planned to be civil with him, truly. She had thought she'd be able to handle it. She was an adult now, she'd grown and matured. Surely she could manage, at the very least, pretending he was a stranger. But something clicked in her as she heard his voice, and anger roared as a violent flame in her voice.

"Oh, funny, I foolishly expected you'd still be in Seoju. My bad."

She wasn't looking at him and so did not realize it, but the anger in her voice surprised Akio. Eyes wide, he looked to Hana for an explanation, but she brushed him off with a wave of her hand.

The resident hunter, on the other hand, had rage light up his eyes. Leiko felt a bitter satisfaction grip her guts.

"At least I didn't disappear for seven _fucking_ years."

He was bitter, too. And that fact infuriated Leiko. She curled her hands up in fists and gritted her teeth. How dare he?! How fucking dare he?!

"And who's fault is that?!"

Her voice grew louder and her heart was beating fast; she felt her fists throbbing.

The resident hunter jumped up and exploded.

"FUCK you!"

Like a fuse lights up another, the Hammer wielder burst as well.

"WHAT?!"

Everyone else showcased various levels of confusion. Akio was absolutely clueless, although he felt his chest slowly fill up with anger. Haru had a little bit of context from Hana's previous guess, but still didn't understand much, and the Gunner was filling the gaps in her theory.

"How fucking _dare_ you?! You think _you_ have the right to be mad at _me_?!" Leiko continued.

It was at this moment the Ace Commander deemed it fit for himself to intervene.

"That's enough, both of y-"

"Stay out of this, Akio," the Hammer wielder seethed, and it took him completely off guard. He didn't answer.

"You left! You just fucking left!" the resident hunter had an accusing tone that made Leiko's blood boil.

"Look _who's_ fucking talking!"

Every time she spoke, she took a step towards him. Hana had realized it too late and wasn't in any position to stop her anymore. The hunter never took a step back, as if he was waiting for the Hammer wielder to come to him.

"At least I told you first!"

Leiko rolled her eyes.

"Oh, I'm _sorry_ I didn't have the time to tell you I was leaving as you were making out with some fucking slut!"

It was his turn to take a step forward, and in doing so he met her halfway. She caught a whiff of his scent and hated it with every inch of her being.

"Don't you fucking talk about her like that!"

"Oh, you're right! I should talk about you like that!"

"This is how you repay me for everything I've done for you?!" the resident hunter barked.

She pushed her finger into his chest, pushing him backwards slightly.

"You're fucking kidding me! You have nothing to do with this!"

By 'this', obviously, she meant becoming one of the Aces. The resident hunter towered over her, but she had none of it, her eyes shooting daggers at him.

"They sure lowered their standards, then!"

This was the tipping point. The line nobody should cross. He knew it, and so did everyone in the room. For a second, they all collectively held their breath.

She spoke calmly, but with a cold sharpness to her voice that chilled them all.

"Eiji, I swear to fucking god, if you say one more _fucking_ word, I will bash your _fucking_ head into the table."

They all knew this was true, and that is exactly why Akio intervened again.

"That's enough," he said. There was a sternness to his voice that wasn't there before, as he'd taken the time to gather himself.

And with these words he took control of the situation once again. Hearing his voice calmed Leiko down enough for her to accept the order, and Eiji knew it was time for him to leave. He took a step back, walking around the Hammer wielder as he got to the door. But, just before leaving, he turned around.

"You can't possibly have gotten better than me. Meet me tomorrow at dawn. You know where. Bring your friends so they can see you get crushed."

She didn't turn to face him, but he heard her as clearly as if she had.

"I will destroy you."

He closed the door behind him.

* * *

Hana had then left, dragging Haru with her, leaving Akio and Leiko alone.

They stood in silence for a while. The Hammer wielder's breathing calmed down, becoming even again. The Commander's shoulders relaxed slightly as some of the tenseness left his muscles.

"Look, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to drag you guys into this..." Leiko trailed off.

She stared at Akio, who was looking out the porthole with a weird mix of sadness and anger. He let out a long sigh, closing his eyes as he did when giving up. Her heart sank.

"What was that? What just happened? Who is he?"

She opened her mouth to answer, but he couldn't see that, and hence cut her off with his final question.

"And why on earth did you not speak to me about this?"

He was hurt, and it sounded in his words. A strange mix of guilt and anger welled up in Leiko's stomach.

"Listen, I just... He wasn't supposed to be here, okay? Yeah, sure I had some doubts that he might... But I didn't know. I really didn't. He wasn't supposed to be here."

Akio didn't speak a word more, but he opened his eyes and laid them upon the Hammer wielder. Their gazes locked and the storm in their bellies stirred.

"And he's..." she continued, "He's my ex. We dated seven years back and... let's just say it didn't end well."

She paused.

"I really, really don't want to talk about it. Not right now."

He sighed once more as he got up, slowly, and walked over to her. She knew this was an acceptance of her apology as much as it was an offer for comfort. He hadn't even quite gotten to her yet that she closed the gap between them and wrapped her arms around his waist. He put his arms around her shoulders and squeezed her against himself tightly. There was a tinge of despair in the way he held her so close, and her heart was broken.

"We never should've come here," she breathed.

The only thing that came out of his mouth was a sigh, and the kiss he lay on top of her head.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The tension in the air was almost electric.

Akio had mixed feelings about being here. On one hand, there was so much more important work to do. Fortifying the town to give it even a single chance to survive the coming of an Elder Dragon, for one. This would require gathering the resources for it, which they had almost none of. This meant they would have to, not only try to get what they needed, but ask the Guild for help. The villages around them were way too sparse and small to offer any worthwhile aid.

On the other hand, the Commander knew for a fact that Leiko was ten times the hunter her ex-boyfriend could ever hope to be. The Hunting Horn user was already basking in his own overconfidence, and seeing the smug look on his face frustrated Akio; he was looking forward to watching Leiko beat him into the ground.

The Hammer wielder herself showed – and felt – no nervousness. There was only the rumbling of a storm in her stomach that electrified the air. She looked to no one in particular, and certainly not Eiji, focusing on a specific point in front of her eyes.

She glanced at Akio, and found him staring at her. He gave a tiny nod, solemn only because he was the one giving it. For the first time that morning, she had a confident smile. He couldn't help but mirror it with his own.

Leiko looked to all the other Aces, gathered here to watch her. Haru gave her two thumbs up, his smile illuminating his face. Hana had a bit of a mocking smile, but the Hammer wielder knew that this was not because she doubted the outcome of this duel. Hideaki had missed yesterday's altercation, but had been told the gist of it; he flashed a kind smile.

Eiji hadn't just insulted Leiko. He'd insulted all of the Aces, and in hindsight this was what had tipped her over the edge. She never took too kindly to her skill being put down, but if there existed better hunters than she was, they were part of this group, or the Kindred Hunter. Hearing these people whose skill could not be rivalled being foolishly insulted was not something Leiko's pride permitted go without punishment.

She was looking forward to beating him to the ground. To humiliate him, to make him swallow his pride and, most importantly, to prove that she owed him nothing.

Yatori's resident hunter still stood there, smug as ever. No one had come to watch him, and Leiko knew for a fact that this was because he had no friends. Being himself, he had alienated almost all of the women in his age bracket, and most of the guys, too. The Hammer wielder considered taunting him, but decided against it, as a screaming match wasn't particularly tempting to her at the moment.

Then, the sound they were all waiting for. The duelling hunters got their weapons out.

Lagiacrus didn't usually travel in groups. They were quite solitary creatures. So when they had received reports of two of them approaching the town, Leiko almost thought it was fate.

They also had a very specific cry. Unmistakable. And they were coming.

Instead of vanishing, Leiko and Eiji's smiles grew. Akio crossed his arms over his chest.

The Hammer wielder spotted the two beasts before the Hunting Horn user did, and quickly spotted her new vantage point. In one smooth motion, she jumped up a tree branch, immediately getting eye to eye with one of the Lagiacrus.

The monster let out a roar as she leaped on top of it's head, sliding down it's neck onto it's back. It was like she'd done this a thousand times before. The Commander had seen how at ease she was with mounting monsters, but this was something new. In fact, he'd never seen her to determined. She – and he wasn't sure she even realized it – corrected every little flaw he had ever noticed in her fighting, moving with a fluidity not unlike his own.

Eiji, on the other hand – and they could all see this – fought like a beginner. None of the Aces had any particular experience with his weapon, but they could still easily notice his swings left him with openings the size of mountains. He dodged left and right, and they had to give that to him: he compensated for his lack of skill in actually wielding his weapon with excellent reflexes. Still, it was as clear as day to them that Leiko would take out her Lagiacrus ages before he did his.

No one was surprised when the Hammer wielder leaped off of the Leviathan and landed square on her feet, ready in no time to continue fighting. The beast was already beaten and bloody, but they all knew this was when a monster was most dangerous: when it fought against the odds with the strength of desperation.

Leiko herself knew this better than anyone. Which is why she fought even better. Like everything she had ever learned, every single minute of experience she had acquired since the last time she had seen her ex-boyfriend was now being put to use. He was too busy fighting to watch her, but if he had, even he would have known that he was nothing.

She dodged a strike that left the Lagiacrus open and sent her Hammer straight to it's jaw. It was shaken, falling down, trying to gather itself. It did not, however, have the time to do so, as she crushed it's skull against the ground in one fell swoop.

"BAM! FUCK YOU!" she let out in a victorious cry.

Eiji's head snapped to attention towards her, his eyes widening. How could she have beaten it so fast? He dodged the beast's paw as it headed his way, cursing under his breath.

No one – except Yatori's resident hunter – was surprised at the outcome of this fight.

Everyone _was_ , however, surprised when they heard the cry of a third Lagiacrus.

The Leviathan lunged at the Aces in a roar. They dodged the attack, their weapons out in half a second. The Hunting Horn user had his hands full with his own monster and hardly noticed what was happening behind him.

The air got thicker, and a cloud of black dust came out of the Lagiacrus' mouth. Akio frowned. Even Hana looked, if not taken aback, suddenly serious.

Leiko was still full of adrenaline from her previous fight; as such, she was the first one to leap at the new monster. The Commander almost wanted to scream out for her not to, but he knew this would do more harm than good.

She knew the exact amount of strength required to hang onto a Lagiacrus. Had mounted them a thousand million times. But this one shook her off, sending her flying a bit further with power she would never except from it's kind. Electricity started running through it's back. Leiko landed on her feet, but slid backwards with a puzzled look on her face.

"Hideaki, what the fuck?!" she asked as she rushed back at it.

As the biologist of the group, the Lancer was used to being the one to answer questions, and he always did so with a tiny, satisfied smile. This time, though, his face grew serious.

"It's Frenzied," he said.

Akio sliced at the beast's back leg and it let out a roar, turning around to him, whipping it's tail towards Haru and Leiko. They both dodged, the Hammer wielder rolling under it and the Cadet simply sidestepping.

"What?!" she shouted, "Fuck! Where's Kyoko when you need her?!"

She heard a chuckle.

Where it worried Akio, Haru felt invigorated by the challenge. He gave the Hammer wielder a wide smile.

"Who said we needed anyone other than me?"

He was face to face with the Lagiacrus as it was about to fire a ball of lightning. He jumped up, grabbing one of it's horns, hoisting himself up on it's head and narrowly dodging the electricity it sent out. The beast started wildly shaking it's head, roaring with rage as it felt the Gunner's shots tear through it's hide.

Haru steadied himself and buried his sword at the top of the monster's mouth, just under a tooth, and ripped it out. The Leviathan let out a pained cry, trying it's hardest to shake the Cadet off. The latter steadied himself once again, and buried his blade, this time, on top of the Lagiacrus' skull.

It collapsed immediately, and Haru jumped off of it just before it hit the ground.

"Woot!" the Cadet let out, "Check this out!"

He held up the monster's tooth, rotting and blackened by the illness that had it. Seeing the state it was in, the Cadet let it go with a resounding 'ewwww'.

Akio walked up to him with a stern look on his face.

"What was that? You could've seriously injured yourself."

Haru's joy fell from his face, replaced by a slight, upset frown.

"I'm sorry."

It was at this point that Leiko jogged up to them, a smile lighting up her face.

"Don't listen to him, Haru! That was awesome! I couldn't have done it better myself!"

She grabbed his shoulder, and his smile returned slightly. The Commander sighed.

"Leiko, god damn it."

She gave a wide smile.

Akio turned to Hideaki, who had now walked up to the group, joined by Hana.

"So you were right," he said.

The Lancer nodded.

"The black dust I found yesterday was unmistakable. There is a Gore Magala around."

Leiko looked to Hideaki, a bit of a puzzled look on her face.

"I thought Kyoko had taken care of the last one we'd seen?"

"They are very rare," the Lancer corrected her, "But they do exist outside the one the Kindred Hunter killed. It's quite surprising to see one this soon afterwards, though, I'll give you that."

Eiji walked up to them, panting. He had not participated in the fight, still busy with his own, but had finished hunting a bit before they had taken out the Frenzied Lagiacrus.

"What the hell was that?"

Hideaki was about to answer, but was cut off by the cry of a bird they all knew. The Caravaneer's great eagle swooped down, landing square on Akio arm. It had a letter clutched in it's talon. The Commander took it out and read it, his face growing more and more serious as he did so.

"It's a letter from Kyoko," he finally said. "They're coming... And so is a Black Fatalis."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

It was not panic that had then taken over all of them in that moment. More like... An overwhelming sense of fatality. A cold, calm certainty that they would have to face this. And doubt, and fear that they could not. And if they could not, who could?

The Ace Commander's title had not randomly fallen on his lap. He took a deep breath, and in a second pushed away all fear from himself, holding his head high and his shoulders squared. Leiko, like she always had, immediately found a great deal of comfort in the untouchable, invincible figure that he was as The Commander. Hana silently closed her eyes as a tiny smile played on her lips.

"All right," he set the foundations of his orders. "We will all head back. I will directly go to Yatori's village chief and inform him of the current developments. Haru," he held out his arm where the Caravaneer's eagle was perched, "You write back to Kyoko and tell her that while she should come as quickly as possible, she is to try and start gathering materials for the fortifications on the way."

The Cadet held out his arm, and the bird hopped over to it, making it's way to the redhead's shoulder. He gave a stern nod.

"When you're done with that, I want you to send a letter to the Guild warning them of what is happening. Ask them for help. If they can spare any hunters, that would be a great help to us."

The Commander looked to everyone, but more specifically to Eiji.

"None of us are to say anything about this to anyone other than the people who need to know. In this village, the only person who needs to know is the chief. We are _not_ to cause a panic. Understood?"

His last word was obviously directed to the resident hunter, who rolled his eyes as he nodded.

"Hideaki, I want you out in the field. We need to locate and take care of this Gore Magala. We can't risk more Frenzied monsters, they're too much of a threat, and the village is too vulnerable."

The Lancer nodded, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Hana, Leiko, you will immediately start fortifying. Haru and I will join you the moment we are done. Our priority is to protect the village."

The Commander was half-surprised when Leiko did not object to this. He remembered a time when this order would have led to arguments and so much wasted time. Instead, she simply nodded, calm as ever.

"Any questions?" he finally asked.

No one said a word.

"Perfect. Let's go."

The Hammer wielder's feeling of comfort at Akio's control over the situation translated to a strong desire to grab and kiss the shit out of him, but she held back from it. Instead, as they walked back to Yatori, she made her way to his side and intertwined her fingers with his, squeezing his hand softly.

She heard as clear as day Eiji's gasp, although he tried to suppress it.

 _Oh?_

A smirk slowly grew on her lips. She stood on the tip of her toes to plant a kiss on Akio's cheek. His serious expression slowly melted into a slight smile, and for a second he forgot that Fatality was quickly heading their way.

* * *

"Hey! You!"

Eiji didn't expect he would have many opportunities to talk to the Ace Commander one on one, so it was now or never. He jogged up to him as he exited the village chief's house, slowly closing the door behind him.

Akio's gaze landed on the resident hunter, but he kept walking.

"Don't fucking ignore me!" Eiji said angrily as he ran up to the Commander.

He stopped in his tracks, turning to face Leiko's ex-boyfriend as he crossed his arms over his chest. Although he wasn't much taller than Akio, Eiji lifted his chin and looked down on him as if to try and assert dominance. The Commander remained unshaken.

"Okay, who the fuck are you? You think you can just swoop down and steal Leiko from me? Think again bud, I was there way first."

Akio did not move, his feet firmly planted in the ground, and his expression remained entirely neutral. Only a very slight twitch of his eyebrow betrayed him, but Eiji was too busy trying to be intimidating to notice it.

"As far as I know," he begun calmly, "Leiko can make her own choices, and decide who she wants to be with."

Eiji curled his hands up in fists, gritting his teeth, and in his display of anger Akio very easily recognized the Hammer wielder.

"Lay off of her, alright? Or else you'll regret it," the resident hunter seethed.

The Commander's stance did not shift, and he did not move an inch. However, Eiji suddenly felt the air around them getting heavier. Had he been more observant, he would have noticed the cold anger that suddenly animated Akio's irises.

"No," he said simply, but his voice sent a chill down Eiji's spine. " _You_ will lay off, and _you_ will stay away, and I do not want to have to hear about you again."

It was threat, and a very clear one at that. The resident hunter's eyes widened, but he stopped himself just in time from taking a step back. He quickly shrunk down on himself, and the Commander was now towering over him.

"I do not want you causing Leiko any more grief. _Understood_?"

His tone was menacing but he spoke casually; an outside observer would have thought this was a friendly conversation. Eiji tried to gather himself, squaring his shoulders and holding his chin high. But even though he was slightly taller than him, Akio still stood higher than he did.

"We'll see about that," the resident hunter spat, though his voice sounded hesitant.

He had wanted to have the last word, but they both knew who had the upper hand. He turned around with a huff and left with all the dignity he could spare.

* * *

"What the hell did you do to Eiji?" Leiko asked as she undid a strap of her armour.

Akio's gaze was drawn from her hands to her face as she spoke, and he gave an expression she couldn't quite decipher.

"What? Why do you ask?"

She let a piece of her armour hit the ground with a crash before answering.

"He walked past the place we were working at this afternoon," she paused to fiddle with a piece of leather she had trouble undoing, "But he didn't even spare me a glance. Walked right on."

She continued trying to untie the strap without much success. She cursed under her breath.

"Fuck! Can you give me a hand?"

He stood up and walked over to her, getting to work on the problematic piece. She pushed her hair out of his way.

"He came up to me as I left the village chief's house," Akio begun as his hands expertly undid the leather strap, "And told me to lay off of you, or else I'd 'regret it'. I just put him in his place."

The last piece of Leiko's armour hit the floor, and in a flash she was facing him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed herself against him, her face mere inches from his. She softly bit her bottom lip, feeling his warm breath on her skin.

"If there is one thing you mustn't do," she breathed as he put his hands on her hips, "it's lay off of me."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The Capital C Caravaneer's bird was notoriously fast. 'The fastest in all the land', even, he'd boast when he'd had too much to drink (which was most times). There was, as such, no surprise when a new letter arrived for the Aces early the next morning.

Three knocks on the door woke Akio up. He untangled himself from a mess of sheets and Leiko's limbs and quickly put some clothes on as he strut towards the door, opening it. In front of him stood a young mate with the eagle perched on his shoulder.

"This just arrived," he said simply, holding out a letter.

The Commander grabbed it with a quick 'thank you' and the young man promptly left to attend to his other tasks. Akio closed the door behind him and went over to sit on the bed as he opened the letter.

Leiko let out an unhappy moan and he felt her shift behind him.

"What are you doing so far away from me."

She scooted over to him, grabbing at his side, her fingers brushing against his scar. A shiver passed through him as they did, and he knew for a fact that this always made her smile. The thought of that had warmth pool up in his chest.

He slowly opened the letter and read it, staying focused even though Leiko was now hoisting herself upwards using his shoulders. She nestled her chin in the curve between his neck and shoulder and softly blew on his skin to try and get his attention.

When this didn't work, she got to laying butterfly kisses all along his collarbone. This was finally enough to distract him, and he softly shrugged her off.

"Leiko, I'm trying to read here."

She rolled her eyes and made a face.

"Pff."

She made her way back to him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders from behind, peeking at the letter from over his head.

"What is that, anyway?"

He didn't answer. Her eyes landed on the name of the sender, and he felt her tense up a little.

"Oh," she let out simply.

She stayed silent and let him finish, trying to read Kyoko's message as he did. He handed her the letter when he was done, and she broke away from him and sat a bit further to finish reading it herself.

He watched her read as she visibly grew more and more concerned. Still, as he looked at her, her hair cascading down her shoulders and a focused expression on her face, he couldn't help but feel his heart soar. It was weird how, even in moments like these, she had a knack for making him forget about everything around them.

She simultaneously broke and strengthened this feeling as she looked up to him with worry in her eyes. She pursed her lips without ever breaking their shared stare.

"Is there really so little time?"

He shrugged.

"I don't know, Leiko. I really don't."

He could see in her stance that she was hesitating, but he couldn't quite figure out what about. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Well, if anyone can do it, it's us."

She paused.

"We'll manage."

He wasn't quite sure if she was trying to convince him or herself, but it didn't matter. Either way, it was the Commander's job to do the convincing. He stood up with a sternness in his eyes, a serious expression on his face and shoulders wide enough to carry both of their insecurities.

"We should get going," he said. "There is still much work to do."

She thanked him with a smile.

* * *

Hideaki and Leiko returned from their hunt carrying the corpse of a Velocidrome, covered in black dust and it's darkened, limp tongue hanging out of it's mouth. It's teeth were blackened and had started to rot, it's inside surely in the same state, and it exuded a putrid smell.

They walked through the village with their prey, attracting the curious and horrified looks of various villagers. Adventurous children, who were usually quite exited about anything related to hunting, stayed away and only watched the two Aces making their way to their ship.

They dropped the corpse beside the ship with a thud, and Hideaki made his way inside to get his instruments.

Leiko took the time to turn towards the sunset and watch orange light bathe the world. The afternoon had been hot, almost unbearably so, but the evening was finally cooling down. The Hammer wielder let out a long sigh, glancing quickly to the northwest, feeling the pit of anxiety sitting at the bottom of her belly.

She heard Akio's footsteps as he made his way back to their ship and turned around.

He carried over his shoulder his blades and the top of his armour, no doubt because he hated being too warm. His hair was tied in a ponytail and his sweaty self almost glistening in the sunset.

Leiko promptly forgot where and who she was, a mix of various emotions swirling in her chest. She could so easily recall a time when he would have never let himself remove his chest plate, irrationally scared as he was that people could see his scar and guess he was not worthy.

She crashed back to earth when he spoke, giving her a weird look.

"Can I ask why you've brought the corpse of a Velocidrome into the town?"

He had stopped in front of her, the corpse laying between them. She looked up to him and shrugged very slightly.

"Hideaki wants to study it. For the Frenzy, I mean; he wants to check if it's the same kind as the one you've encountered before, or if it's a different strand, or something. Anything that can help us know how strong of a Gore Magala we're up against, or help us find it."

He nodded.

"Right."

She stood there and didn't speak, looking at him. He stared right back and did not say a word. She felt as if, suddenly, there was a wall between them. It wasn't the corpse that was in their way, but she'd fallen back to earth and now the feelings swirling in her stomach weren't anything pleasant.

She didn't like this town. Not at all.

He walked around the Velocidrome and joined her side. She recalled that morning and longed to return to their room, to the only place in the universe where all they could think about was each other. Everywhere else was filled with responsibilities, with the knowledge that so many fates rested on their shoulders. But when they were alone together, they could ignore all of it: god knew she was good at that.

He gave her a look that would've been worry in any other situation; but as he was the Commander, it was but a twinge of interrogation.

"Are you alright?"

A sigh was all the time she took to gather herself.

"Yeah."

He debated asking more, but decided he would make up for it that night. Slowly, he reached out for her hand and softly took it in his. She gave his fingers a squeeze and moved over to him, laying her head on his shoulder and losing her gaze in the horizon.

They heard the screech of an eagle before they even saw the Capital C Caravan's Arluq soaring through the sky.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Sorry for the late chapter! I've been quite busy these days. Nevertheless, and finally, here it is.

* * *

Chapter 9

Kyoko was some sort of beacon of hope for the people. She was the saviour of the world, the one who had triumphed over a wrathful god. The Hammer that hung on her back proved it. Across the world could be heard her tale: the knight in blue armour that had taken down the god of destruction. There were many versions of the story, all which held varying degrees of truth.

Nevertheless, Kyoko was hope. And as the Arluq came down upon Yatori's tiny harbour, Leiko felt it. It was, perhaps, just a bit more weight shared with another pair of shoulders. Or it was that aura of legend that made her believe, if only for a second, that they had everything under control.

But the Kindred Hunter was not a knight in shining armour, and, if she had taken down a god, she never believed it to have made her a hero. She had only been doing her job. And now, in front of her stood a much more powerful menace, and she wasn't quite sure she could uphold her reputation.

She stepped down the Arluq and lay a meaningful foot on the docks. Leiko straightened up, but she kept her fingers intertwined with Akio's. He walked over to Kyoko and held out his other hand.

"Welcome. I am happy to see you."

The Kindred Hunter's gaze slid down the arm he kept back in a glance, then back up as she shook his hand. There was a spark in her eye that he'd never seen. He did not notice it, but it confused Leiko. Kyoko gave a slight smile.

"So am I. How've you guys been?"

She looked to both him and her as she asked the question. The Hammer wielder let Akio speak.

"We've been working hard. But not hard enough: there is still much more to do, and so little time."

He looked stern – more than usual. The lack of time for preparations was, perhaps, the thing that bothered him most. He would have liked to, at least, have a secure place to fight the Fatalis, but as the time of their confrontation grew nearer, the possibility of that grew narrower. Fighting the Elder Dragon in the town would mean it's destruction, and he would not let that happen.

Kyoko frowned slightly.

"I'm sure it'll be fine. I, on the other hand, have been good... Hunting lots of things."

The weird casualness of the Kindred Hunter's word snapped Leiko back to reality, and to her usual self. She let go of Akio's hand to step towards Kyoko, her fingertips lingering on his. She held out her arm on which was tattooed his sword with a grin.

"I'm sure you had fun with all of those weaklings. We, on the other hand, did lots of _real_ hunting."

Akio smiled. The Kindred Hunter gave a smirk, shaking the Ace's hand with an excessive amount of strength. It was a battle of pride, and both of their fingers hurt once they were done.

"Right. Lots of, you know, really big Great Jaggis? Oh! A Velocidrome, I see, _scary_."

She pointed at the corpse, then crossed her arms over her chest, that smirk never leaving her face.

"I'll have you know," Leiko countered, "This one was Frenzied. And they are a fucking pain to fight. Impossible to mount, those things. Always jumping everywhere."

"You know what, I'll hand you that. Especially when Frenzied."

She paused, and looked to Akio.

"Also, Frenzied, huh? Do we have any clue where the Gore Magala is?"

Her tone had shifted to take on a more serious edge. Her attention was suddenly entirely focused on Akio, like her eyes were now stuck looking into his. Leiko arched an eyebrow. The Commander shook his head.

"No. However, Hideaki is working on it."

The Lancer appeared at this moment, his tools in hand, and he gave Kyoko a smile and a wave before crouching to the corpse's level.

"I am."

He took a moment to think.

"As far as I can deduce from what we've seen, and the sheer amount of Frenzied specimens... It must be near. The Frenzy it gives off seems to be slightly less potent than it's predecessor, but it's worrying still. I should have more specific conclusions after I've finished working on this Velocidrome."

He then immediately got to work. No one bothered answering, as they all knew that not only did he not like being disturbed when he worked, he was often so absorbed in whatever he was doing that nothing could reach him.

Akio and Leiko turned back to the Kindred Hunter. The Commander spoke first.

"Come, I will introduce you to this town's hunter."

The Hammer wielder visibly flinched, lunging forward to grab his wrist.

"No! That's a shit idea. Don't introduce Eiji to anyone, especially not a woman. He's a fucking whore."

She would have stopped herself had she had the time, or the self control. Instead, she received a frown from Akio, and a puzzled look from Kyoko.

"Well," he said, "I don't exactly like him, either, but he is part of this... effort. We can't work if the two of them have never even met."

She frowned.

"Ah, fuck it."

The Hammer wielder then turned to the Kindred Hunter, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Don't fraternize with him. Don't say a word more than you have to. Trust me, I'm just trying to keep you from making a horrible mistake."

Kyoko arched an eyebrow, but a weird spark passed through her eyes. Leiko recognized it as the one from earlier. She cocked her head ever so slightly.

"Sure," the Kindred Hunter said, "I'll be... careful?"

The spark never left her eye, and the Hammer wielder watched her and the Commander as they left with a horrible feeling sitting in her stomach.

* * *

Leiko laid on their bed, staring at the ceiling.

The boat rocked gently and the sound of Akio undoing various straps of his armour calmed her. Still, a pit of anxiety sat at the bottom of her stomach, like a giant hole absorbing every other feeling.

She felt the weight of the bed shift as Akio sat on it to remove his boots.

"Are you still upset about earlier?" he asked, his tone inquisitive, if vaguely concerned.

She let out a deep breath, almost a sigh, like she was trying to calm herself. She had never been quite herself since they had come to Yatori, and the Commander couldn't figure out what bothered her most: the fact that she was back in her hometown, or the Fatalis heading there to destroy it. She was fairly evasive about it, but that was mostly because he hadn't asked direct questions as to not push her.

"I just... Fuck."

She closed her eyes, feeling the bed shift once again.

"My parents are still here. And I knew they wouldn't be happy with me... But I'd at least expected them to acknowledge the fact that I'm not dead."

He remained silent, as he could almost see the words bordering her lips. He let her gather herself.

"I mean, they don't deserve for me to be upset about this. They're pretty much entirely the reason I left. And I don't want to reach out to them. But... I don't know. I guess I thought I was the one who held a grudge... Not them."

She paused.

"Parents' unconditional love, you know? I guess it's not as unconditional as everyone says it is."

She had a bitter smile. She felt the weight on the bed shift once again, and her smile melted into the kiss Akio lay on her lips. He softly rested his forehead against hers.

"Don't worry. I'm sure there's something keeping them: everything will fall back into place once we've defeated the Fatalis."

The certainty in his words comforted her. She slowly dragged him down so he would lay beside her, and snuggled her face against his neck. The arms he wrapped around her felt more like home than this place ever had.


	10. Chapter 10

She opened her eyes and got lost in him. For a moment, her entire world was but his skin, his smell and his arms around her, holding her tightly. For a single second, there was nothing else, nothing but him. She revelled in it.

Then, she remembered and fell back to earth. The contrast was so strong, the disappointment so powerful, that she felt tears fill her eyes as her heart suddenly scrunched up in her chest.

The sigh he let out struck a balance between his comforting presence and the menace looming outside. Her parents were there, somewhere, so angry that they'd decided to ignore her entirely. And Eiji, well, he existed. That was quite enough. Not to mention that _fucking_ Fatalis, which had chosen the exact worse place to be heading to.

But he was there. Akio was there, and he would never leave, and she loved him. That single constant was enough to get her through pretty much anything. So, slowly, her heart filled itself back up.

She watched him sleep for a bit and listened to his heartbeat. Slow and steady, much like he was. She drew a great deal of comfort from it. He was perfectly calm and still, and simply seeing him like this, asleep, always somehow felt like an achievement.

She'd never actually seen him sleep before they'd gotten together. She'd asked him why, at some point. He'd been fairly reluctant to answer, like it was some sort of horrible secret, which had only made her more curious. Well, the answer was much simpler than what she had expected: he used to not sleep much. Spent his nights being eaten away by the guilt which refused to let him rest.

Seeing him sleep soundly comforted her, because it meant he wasn't lost anymore. It meant he had found some sort of closure, some peace of mind. And if there was a single thing she wanted him to have – because she'd seen him without it – it was serenity.

He opened up his eyes some time later, and she laid a kiss on his jaw. He had a small smile.

"Good morning, darling."

His voice managed to calm her down even more. She smiled and buried her face in his neck so he couldn't see it.

"'Morning."

They laid like this for a while. He peeked out the porthole and noticed the sun was quickly rising, coloring the sky a soft pink. Had he had the choice, he would have stayed like this for much longer; but they didn't have the time. They still remained intertwined with each other for a moment, because he didn't want to push her away.

They didn't speak as they both armoured themselves, but as they left the room she grabbed his hand, and that is how they walked up to the deck of the Unaaq. Hana was already there, sat on the railing, cleaning her gun. She didn't look up as she heard them come up to her.

"'Morning, lovebirds."

She smirked, because she knew it would elicit no reaction from them other than an answer. Leiko waved and echoed her ''Morning'.

"Good morning, Hana. Are Hideaki and Haru up?"

"Yep. Hideaki spent all night dissecting that Velocidrome, and Haru took off a bit earlier. He should be back soon."

"Where to?"

Hana shrugged.

"I don't know. To see his darling, probably."

The smirk came back to stretch her lips.

They heard the boy run back a couple of minutes later. As he climbed onto the boat, he spotted the Commander and Hammer wielder and flashed a wide smile.

"Good morning you guys!"

"Well _you're_ cheerful this morning," Leiko smiled.

He had a shy grin, his cheeks taking on a reddish colour. She smirked and she saw Hana do the same from the corner of her eye. Akio had a tiny smile.

"Am I?" was the Cadet's only defense, and they left it at that.

The Gunner laid her Gun down, judging her work satisfactory, and peeked out from over the railing to the ground a bit further away.

"Hideaki?" she called out.

"Is it really time?" he sounded almost disappointed.

"Yeah," she answered. "Come on, get up here, you can get back to work afterwards."

They heard heavy footsteps as he climbed onto the deck, his face wrinkled by his lack of sleep but his eyes shining with curiosity. He was a biologist first and foremost, or perhaps simply a scientist at heart. The point remained: that spark in his eyes only appeared when he was deeply involved in some of his work. Most times, when this was the case, it was almost impossible to take him away from whatever task he had decided to take on. Well, maybe it was for the best.

"Well that decides, that, at least," Akio said as he watched the Lancer come up to them.

Hideaki gave him a smile that was half-grateful, half-giddy. Then, Akio got to Commanding. Leiko squeezed his hand a little.

"There hasn't been any reports of monster attacks or of any monsters nearby. Yatori's hunter has been fairly effective at keeping them at bay with our help."

Leiko grimaced when Eiji's title crossed Akio's lips. He did not notice it, or at least pretended not to.

"Moreover, our priority right now is to continue fortifying the village. Kyoko is here, which means the Fatalis must be, at most, a week away. Work has been going smoothly and I believe the wall should be ready for it's arrival, although I wish we had had more time to make it stronger."

He paused.

"Anywho, we will all be assigned to building the wall today. Except Hideaki, of course. Additionally, I will discuss with Kyoko what she is to do if she wants to help in the most effective way, since it seems she could not make it here this morning."

Leiko cocked her head slightly at that. Usually, the Kindred Hunter would join them in these morning reunions, but she wasn't there. She hadn't quite noticed it before now. The Hammer wielder decided it was because the trip had exhausted her, and she was still sleeping. Surely, that was it.

"Any questions?" the Commander finally asked.

Variations of 'no' were heard from all of the Aces. He nodded.

"Perfect."

* * *

"You know what we should do?" Leiko peeked her head over a pile of planks so that she could see – and be seen – by everyone.

Akio glanced at her, but Hana was the one to acknowledge her out loud.

"What?"

"Just, like... Make this bit of the wall weaker."

To illustrate her point, she placed the two planks she was trying to attach together and bit further apart from each other.

"What?" the Commander piped up, "That's ridiculous. No. Why?"

The Gunner snickered, then pointed to a nearby house, behind her.

"That's Eiji house."

Akio frowned.

"Oh."

"Come on," Leiko insisted, "Then we'd have more time for... oh for _FUCK'S_ SAKE."

She cut herself off and just held back from screaming more obscenities in the general direction she was looking. Akio's head snapped up to attention, and he only had the time to see the anger twist her features before she took off.

Her punch, however, never did, as Hana's voice rose from the spot she hadn't left.

"The punch will be much more satisfying for him than it will be for you."

 _Oh, you think so?_ she thought, even though she very well knew the Gunner was right. So, instead, she walked right up to Eiji face, and he let go of Kyoko's hand.

"You fucking _manslut_! Can't you keep your filthy hands off of a single girl that comes through this shithole?!"

He smirked and she flared up. But instead of the hit he was so deliciously expecting, Eiji recieved nothing, and Leiko turned to face Kyoko and threw her hands in the air.

"And you! I told you! God dammit Kyoko, the one fucking thing I ever advise you to do, and you just fucking ignore it! Fucking hell, if you have so little regard for my advice, at least have some fucking respect and tell me!"

The Kindred hunter opened her arms wide like a taunt. Her eyebrow twitched and she took a step towards the Hammer wielder.

"Well maybe you don't fucking decide my life!"

Leiko was taken aback, if only for a second. Her surprise put her on the defensive and quickly melted back into anger. However, she heard Hana speak once again.

"Well, that was unexpected."

If that was sarcasm, she camouflaged it very well. Leiko paid it no mind, and rolled her eyes.

"I'm not trying to decide for you, I'm trying to stop you from making a huge mistake! I'm telling you, you'll regret this! For fuck's sake, you're being so fucking stupid right now!"

"You're not going to tell me what to do! You don't get to do that!"

Anger was quickly filling Kyoko's voice, and she was entirely tensed up, like a cat ready to pounce.

Leiko hadn't heard Akio come up behind her, and she jumped when he grabbed her wrist firmly.

"Calm down, Leiko."

His tone was stern and it immediately took her anger down a notch. He wasn't asking her to do it, he was ordering her to. And she complied, shutting her mouth and swallowing her next words. The Kindred Hunter looked up to the Commander, and although she stayed entirely tense it was like she was suddenly locked in place.

Eiji stood there, looking smug, but didn't say anything. No doubt there was still left over in him a very slight fear of Akio. Or, simply, he was admiring his work.

"Kyoko," the Commander adressed her, "I care very little for what you do with your personal life."

Leiko noticed a twinge of hurt in Kyoko's eyes. She arched an eyebrow.

"Unless," Akio continued, "It impedes with our work. And this does. So if you could refrain from flaunting _him_ ," his voice was full of contempt as he uttered the word, "around, that would be a great service to me. To us."

Eiji crossed his arms over his chest with a satisfied look. Leiko's nails dug in her palm as she clenched her fists, and she felt Akio's hand reaffirm its grip on her wrist. Kyoko broke from the block of ice that previously held all of her body as her muscles relaxed. She seemed to give up.

"Fuck. Fuck that. Fuck you."

She turned around before he could say anything. They watched her walk away.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

A few hours passed by in silence.

Leiko's eyes were glassy from the tears she was holding back. Akio worked beside her, close enough for them to be constantly brushing up against each other. It comforted her, even though it couldn't push away the sob that was stuck in her throat.

Haru had been sent out on an errand to speak with the village Chief a while earlier. They had been expecting him back since then. As he walked back, he tried to hold his head up, but his gaze constantly slid to the ground.

Hana frowned at the sight, and decided to spare Akio the problem.

"Haru! Finally! We were starting to think you'd ran away with your lover."

The Cadet's eyes met the Gunner's and he forced a smile. But he wasn't a very good liar – to be fair, nobody was, to Hana – and was missing the characteristic reddening of his cheeks. She played along.

He muttered something of an affirmation. She shot him a look that said 'come on, you can do better than that'. It seemed to give him strength.

"Come on, I'd never leave you guys."

He grinned. The Gunner smirked, and he understood it was encouragement.

"What'd you do without me?" he finished.

Leiko wasn't quite aware of anything that was happening around her. Akio was trying to, but most of his attention was drawn to the black hole of sadness and anger that was currently his girlfriend. He simply shot Haru a look. The boy's eyes darkened. Hana's frown went entirely unnoticed.

Everyone got back to work.

* * *

Leiko seemed to snap out of her pain as the sun set. She stood up in a sudden movement, almost startling Akio. She looked to him as his eyes were full of questions.

"I'm going to go talk to Kyoko. We can't let this get in the way of our mission."

The Commander's heart grew tenfold. He got up as well, hovering near the Hammer wielder without actually touching her. Like he was scared, or didn't quite know how to express the sudden emotion that took him. She smiled at him.

She stood on her toes and planted a kiss at the corner of his lips. He watched her as she left, a storm of feelings brewing inside of him.

Hana's frown, once again, went entirely unnoticed.

* * *

"You know, it's pretty ironic."

Kyoko jumped, immediately turning around to face the intruder. Leiko gave a vaguely apologetic smile.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, the venom in her voice rolling off of the Ace like water off a duck.

Leiko smiled again.

"I used to come here when I was upset. I'm from here, you know?"

This hill overlooked a valley that slowly transitioned into forest. At sunset, the rays of orange light would pierce through the trees and taint the world in a comforting glow. Leiko could distinctly remember all of the times she'd come here with Eiji and trained until the sky was filled with stars.

Kyoko seemed like she was taken off guard. Her gaze slid back to the horizon.

"Yeah, Eiji told me."

There was a certain bitterness in her words. Leiko chose to ignore it, because it was easier to do so.

"Anyway... Listen."

They both took a deep breath.

"I know for a fact you're making a terrible mistake. And I know for a fact that I'd much rather stop you than not. But... In the end, we're here to protect this town, whether I like it or not. And us hating each other is not helping. And Akio's already stressed out enough over everything... I don't want him to have to endure this."

Kyoko remained silent, even though the Ace could clearly see the million words bordering her lips. She continued.

"I'm angry, yes. I'm upset over this. But... Let's give him a break. He's been through so much... The very last thing I want is for him to have to cope with more loss, more pain. If you're not going to cut all ties with Eiji, well... Let's at least pretend we're both okay with this, alright?"

There it was. That weird glow in the Kindred Hunter's eyes. Like a bitterness, a pain mixed up in some sort of happiness. It was like hope, but it despaired. A duality that shone in her night sky-coloured irises. Leiko didn't understand it, but it suddenly resonated inside her like never before. She couldn't quite stand it, and her gaze snapped away before she could force it not to.

Kyoko looked away too. For a second, she had feared the Hammer wielder could see right through her.

"Leave. Please."

There was some sort of abandonment in the way she spoke. The 'please' rolled off her tongue like she'd simply let it slip. Like it was her last resort. Leiko sighed.

"Alright. I'm counting on you. Please be there tomorrow morning."

She left before any sort of answer could come. She didn't expect one.

The sun was still sliding under the horizon, yet from the night sky were raining tears that crashed silently on the grass.

* * *

Hideaki walked up to the Aces as they were coming back to the ship. He looked a bit less tired, and in his face shone the satisfaction of a job well done.

"I've figured out the rough location of the Gore Magala!" he said.

Haru had found his strength and gave a bright smile. Hana seemed satisfied. Akio looked like a bit of weight was lifted off of his shoulders. The Lancer continued.

"I'll spare you the details of how, exactly, I figured this out, but the Gore Magala's nest should be somewhere in the forest, relatively close to where we fought the Frenzied Lagiacrus. Tracking it from there should be a piece of cake, especially for Kyoko. Oh, and we received a message from the Guild. They'll be sending two of their best hunters by flying ship. It's the best they can do with such short notice."

The Commander nodded.

"Perfect. Thank you, Hideaki."

He turned to face everyone.

"Things are going fairly smoothly. But do not let your guard down. We still have no idea why the Fatalis is heading here, and we don't want any surprises. Understood?"

Everyone nodded. Hana shot Haru a look and grabbed his wrist, dragging him away to who knew where. Hideaki gave Akio a comforting smile. The gratitude that shone in his eyes for a second was quite enough thanks.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

"I'm sorry I've been so secretive."

Akio turned to look at Leiko, a soft but questioning hum his only reaction.

"About... Well, everything. Since we've arrived here all I've done is give you information bit by bit without giving you anything conclusive, or anything that could help you help me. All the while I'm sitting here wildly needing help, needing to talk, but I'm not."

This was not a conversation, and Akio recognized it as such.

"The truth is, I'm scared. Not necessarily that you'll judge me or anything, I know you wouldn't. I'm just... I haven't talked about this in it's entirety to... well, anyone. Ever. When it happened I was far too mad, and upset and terrified to breathe a word about it."

She sighed and chuckled bitterly.

"I guess even now, I'm just stalling for time. But in the end, what I'm trying to say is that you deserve to know what's going on. Especially after that mess with Kyoko."

She waited for permission she knew she already had. He gave her a precious few more seconds as he kissed the top of her head.

"Go ahead."

She was scared and relieved and happy, all at the same time. She tried to make some sense of the feelings swirling in her chest. This felt weirdly reminiscent of her first actually successful jump after her run-in with the Diablos (or rather, the Diablos' run in-to her); inching closer and closer to the edge, hesitant to finally leap.

 _Here we go._

"I've always wanted to be a hunter. From the first moment I remember having conscious thoughts, I've wanted to be hunter. It was the appeal of a life of adventure, I guess. I never did do too well with sitting still for too long."

She eased into the story, slowly. A smile was softly drawn onto her lips.

"But my parents were, and are, I guess, scared. I'm their only child, and they always saw me as this weak little thing, or, well, maybe that's not quite right. Regardless, from the start, they refused my dream to me. I was to become a farmer, like them, and like everyone in this fucking town."

She'd always hated it. From the very beginning. Bitterness coloured her words.

"Anyway. So, here I was, longing for a life of adventure, and my parents vehemently refusing it to me. I did all I could to get closer to my dream, but without my parents' approval or a mentor, there wasn't much I could do."

So bitter was her smile. She had the look of someone expecting an impact; something bad to happen. Like she was watching a train wreck with no way to stop it.

"Enter Eiji. The town's hunter's apprentice. He'd moved from some other shithole of a town with his father: his mom died when he was young. So, anyway, here he was, handsome, strong, and my way to my dream. He had his eye on me from the start, which, I'll be honest here, is kind of weird, as I was thirteen and he was seventeen. But, he was into that kinda thing, I guess."

She wasn't looking at him, but Akio frowned. Nothing he learned about Eiji ever made him sound like a better person.

"Well, it's not like I can blame him for our relationship. He was handsome, and he was strong, and he was nice to me and I thought he was so cool. When he started giving me attention, I was all over him. Well, I felt that way, but I acted all stubborn and shit. Anyway. We got closer and I got him to train me to hunt. All day, every day, I would go hang out with him and we'd train all day. Well, that's not true. There was other... activities, but I'm sure you have no desire to hear about that."

Her nose scrunched up at the thought. Akio had no reaction and she appreciated that more than he would ever know.

"The point is, he's the one who started training me to be a hunter, and I trusted him, and I loved him, like you do when someone's your first love. Unfortunately, like most first loves, this one went to shit fast."

She took a deep breath. He noticed it shook slightly.

"We were supposed to... to leave. I'd managed to buy myself a Hammer, and we were supposed to set off on our grand adventure. Now, well, I guess I neglected to mention that but, the thing is, my parents didn't know I was training. Like, at all. I don't know _how_ they didn't know, honestly there was probably a lot of denial going on there. The point is, they didn't know I was getting closer to my dream. And that's when they learned. And _man_ , were they mad. We fought, they kicked me out, but that was okay, because I was leaving with Eiji, anyway, right?"

The bitter smile that came back to tug at her lips made him want to kiss it better. He silenced the urge and continued listening.

"Wrong."

This was when tears started filling her eyes. Not enough that she'd actually cry, but just enough to cover her irises with a glassy reflection. Akio found that he hated Eiji more and more as time went on.

"Somehow, Eiji had neglected to tell me that our plans were falling through. Because he was leaving on his own way, you see, to accompany his new flame back to her hometown and live with her. Fuck, I knew I was right to hate the Greatsword-wielding bitch from the start. But that's... irrelevant, I guess. Now, I couldn't go back to my parents', and, well, I'm sure you've figured out why I couldn't ask for the Guild's help at that point either."

So Akio had. And fast, at that.

The minimum age for a hunter to enter the Guild was sixteen. Before that age, no hunter could become certified. Leiko was twenty-one, which would've made her fourteen, at the time. Two years too young to enlist: not that she could've easily done so, anyway, as the closest Guild's office was in Loc Lac, in the desert a week's-fly south.

"So here I was. Having been betrayed by the boy I loved, or thought I did, alone, and without any place to go. But there was no way in hell I was going crawling back to my parents to apologize. So, I left. I hitchhiked on caravans all the way to Loc Lac, exchanging passage for protection. It was... well, it was long, and not without obstacles. But I finally made it there. I lied about my age, enlisted with the Guild, and finally fulfilled my lifelong dream of becoming a hunter; although at that point I was doing it more out of pride and desperation then any sort of idealistic hope."

She let out a long breath, and all of the tension in her instantly melted away. She felt like a weight had been pushed off her shoulders. Like her breathing was now a bit easier.

"And, well, I guess that's that."

This was the permission Akio had been waiting for. He drew Leiko closer to him and held her with a strength made more comforting by it's contrasting, simultaneous tenderness. It said _I am sorry I could not protect you from all of that_ , _I will make it better_ , and _Thank you_.

Gratefulness birthed and liberated the sob stuck in her throat. He grabbed her face and brought her up to his, brushing away her tears with his thumbs, and spoke with his eyes all of which would have been silenced otherwise.

No more words were spoken that night.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

The afternoon sun filtered through the leaves, leaving small splotches of light on the forest floor. The trees offered some protection from the summer's scalding heat, the shade and humidity forming like a bubble of cool air in which to find refuge.

Silence hung over the two Hammer wielders like the anticipation of a guillotine's blade dropping, or the calm after a storm. There was nothing comfortable in it, although Kyoko was busy pretending that it's source was her focus on the track, and not yesterday's altercation and Leiko's subsequent request to her. The Ace followed quietly, falsely attentive to the Kindred Hunter's methods.

She wished, in the back of her mind, that anyone else had been tasked to accompany Kyoko on their hunt for the Gore Magala. Part of her was excited to get to fight one, but her anticipation and love of hunting weren't quite enough to drown out the discomfort so tangible between them. It wasn't just that she was with Eiji; something ran deeper than that, but she couldn't quite pin what it was.

"Woah."

She gasped in surprise when Kyoko extended an arm to stop her. She perked up, like a dog sensing something important. Leiko narrowed her focus and surveyed her surroundings.

Black dust floated in front of their noses. They simultaneously grabbed the handle of their Hammer.

The Gore Magala burst out of seemingly nowhere with a deafening roar and they rolled out of it's lunge like they had expected it.

Leiko had noticed a low-hanging branch that would allow her to climb the tree further; she ran for it while Kyoko faced the wyvern with cold determination in her eyes. She almost said _so we meet again_. She had thought she was done with it's kind when she had struck down the Shagaru Magala, and it's presence was almost an insult to the work she had put in since travelling with the Capital C Caravan. She clicked her tongue in contempt.

The Gore Magala roared in response, sending a wave of black dust swirling around itself. It lunged at Kyoko, leaving itself open for Leiko's jump. Opportunity which she did take, landing feet and Hammer first on the beast's back with a resounding thud. It recoiled forward, leaving it open for Kyoko's Hammer to crash against the side of it's face.

The Gore Magala swayed from the hit, throwing the Ace off balance, then used it's momentum to violently shake it's whole upper body the other way in an effort to throw her off. Leiko held on, feeling the black dust it exhaled from between it's scales accumulate on her skin.

Kyoko dodged the beast's swipes, left, right, left, right, waiting for an opportunity to arise. The Gore Magala twisted and contorted wildly as it attacked, still trying to get the Ace off it's back. She held on, getting a few good hits in, sending a few scales flying. The Kindred Hunter managed a strike to it's front paw as Leiko reaffirmed her grip on her Hammer and the wyvern.

The Gore Magala's antlers rose up and it violently deployed it's wings in a burst of black dust which sent the Ace flying. She hit the ground to the sound of mangled armour and rolled back to her feet through the disbelief.

"It can do that?!"

She couldn't see Kyoko, but she heard her from the other side of the beast.

"Yeah. Telltale signs of it are pretty obvious, too."

Leiko's stare snapped from the ground to singe through the Gore Magala as she scrambled for her Hammer.

"Then why didn't you fucking tell me?!"

There was no response.

The beast swiped at her with it's tail, and she jumped back to get a better grip on her weapon and on herself. Kyoko dodged the swipe the Gore Magala sent her way, rolling towards it and sending her Hammer up it's jaw. It let out an angry roar and the Kindred Hunter winced in pain, lunging further and out of it's reach.

Leiko dodged it's tail once more as the wyvern spun around to face her. It's maw did not meet soft flesh but the hard, razor sharp scales of a Seregios as the Ace's Hammer collided with it. The Gore Magala recoiled backwards, almost stepping on Kyoko as it threw itself off balance.

"Careful!"

Leiko offered no apologies or acknowledgement. Instead, she narrowly rolled under the wyvern's swipe with a 'shit!'. Kyoko landed a hit on it's hind leg as it used it's wings to stabilize itself. A burst of black dust sent both of them backwards as the Gore Magala deployed it's wings and roared.

Hammer wielders growled and narrowed their eyes and focus. Black blood oozed out of the dark beast's right eye, and it heaved clouds of it's sickening dust. It's lunge towards Leiko was surprisingly fast, leaving her with no option but to throw herself back. Kyoko mistook this for her opening and attempted a finishing blow, only for the Gore Magala to spin around and send it's tail her way. She leaped over the attack and into a better position.

Leiko jumped to her feet just in time to dodge the beast's swipe, much slower this time, and found herself standing opposite to the Kindred Hunter. She barely spared her a look as the Gore Magala pounced at Kyoko.

The opening was big, and only provided by the exhausted creature's sloppy movements. The Ace jumped in to take it, her Hammer coming down onto it's head in a blow that would surely be fatal.

There was not, however, the crack of a skull as her Hammer collided with something. Only the humming of Kyoko's weapon as she sent it in the opposite direction in a hit simultaneous to Leiko's. Her momentum was entirely thrown off and she tripped back just short of getting her head bitten off.

"What the fuck, Kyoko?!"

She did not hear her over the sound of the Gore Magala's jaw breaking under her hit, and then the disgusting noise of it's brain splattering against the ground on which she crushed it. Kyoko looked up from the mess with a detached look.

Leiko jumped to her feet with a finger pointed in an accusation that hung in the air without ever being spoken. She thought back to their fight with the Cephadrome, where she had done the exact same thing.

Realization widened her eyes and extinguished the anger that hung on her lips.

"... You're in love with Akio, aren't you."

Kyoko's eyes closed in surrender. Her arms fell limp to her sides, her shoulders collapsed, and she angled her face towards a sky never as wide as a pain lesser than her love.

"Of course I am. How could I not be?"


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Her facade fell, and Leiko understood Kyoko better than any other human being ever had. She opened her eyes and looked to the clouds through the trees. Leiko watched and waited. Kyoko sighed.

"Your Hammer hit mine when we were fighting that Cephadrome, and I thought I had won. He was so _angry_ , so _fierce_ about protecting me, he was gorgeous. I'd never seen him get so enraged, I thought for sure he loved me. Why else would he be so intent on keeping me safe?"

Leiko wanted to say _But he's like this with everyone, that's what I love about him_.

"The way you looked at him said 'why her, and not me'? Even though he spent his nights at your side, not mine, he appreciated and respected me, and seemed to have only disdain and contempt for you. If this was how he treated someone who resembled me, but _wasn't_ me, obviously he felt the same for me as I did for him."

The way Kyoko spoke had Leiko draw a clear timeline of events in her head. She knew what was coming. She knew what had planted doubt in Kyoko's mind, what had been her own revelation.

"When we fought that Monoblos, he pushed _me_ out of the way, was ready to die to protect me. And you were ready to face your greatest fear to save him."

She chuckled bitterly.

"But when you fell, he _roared_ , Leiko. He roared with an _anguish_ I'd never even heard in him. And he caught you. And then, when the Monoblos charged towards you, he turned his back to it. He was willing to die. To protect _you_. To shield _you_."

She paused and her gaze descended from the sky onto Leiko.

"And he fell. And you know what he did? You know why I realized he didn't love _me_?"

It was a rhetorical question. Leiko's lips were sealed.

"He _cried_ , Leiko. He held you, and he _cried_."

Kyoko pursed her lips to hold back the tears amassing behind her eyelids, and took a shaking breath so that her voice would not.

"So I turned back, and I left. I went to Dundorma. I told everyone we were safe, not to worry, and the Master of Defense that you guys were coming. I acted like everything was fine, and in the end, I hoped it was. There was this teeny, tiny hope at the bottom of my heart, that I was wrong and that he loved me half as much as I did him."

She paused to let a bitter smile take a hold of her lips. Bittersweet, almost, like she was remembering a time when not all hope was lost.

"And then he leaped at the Kushala Daora in an effort to save you and Haru. And when he came down, _you_ rushed over to him. And _you_ kissed him. And he kissed _you_ back, and he held _you_ as _you_ cried against his chest. All of those things _I_ had dreamt of doing a thousand times. And now, I could _only_ dream."

"When you guys left on the Unaaq, I turned my back to you to wave. That's because I was crying. Everyone thought I just couldn't handle the goodbye. Which is true, to an extent. But that's not why I was crying. I was crying because he'd left me, and I was letting him go. All I wanted to do was run back up the dock and scream that he was making a mistake. That I loved him more than anyone ever could. I still do."

The breath she let out was meant to be a chuckle, however bitter, but instead she stopped herself just short of a sob. Leiko looked at her not with pity, but with a sadness clouding her gaze. She found it horribly similar to Akio's, _before_ they'd gotten together.

"But I didn't. Because for the first time since I'd met him, he seemed happy. And that was because of you. So I decided that I loved him too much to see him wilt again. I tried to tell myself that I was okay with... with _you_ , because his happiness was worth all of the pain in the world. That's what love is, no? Putting one's happiness before your own?"

Kyoko's eyes broke off their shared gaze and she nestled hers to the ground.

"But when I came down the Arluq onto this shitty place, and you were there, in his arms, and the way your hands hovered close together even after you'd let go, and the way he talked to me like I was an old friend and you the love of his life, I... It hurt. It hurt too much. And I realized... we're meant to be. I love him more than anyone ever could, and even if you're the one who fixed him, there's no way my love can go unrequited. It's too strong. There's a connection there, between him and me. We're meant to be, it's fate, it's destiny, whatever you want to call it. We're _supposed_ to be together, but we're not, and that's because of you. So I thought, maybe if I got with someone else, he would realize that he loved me, that he was _supposed_ to love me, and he would..."

"Stop."

This was Leiko's first interjection in a long time; Kyoko was caught by surprise. She looked up to the Ace, mouth still half hung open on her unfinished words.

"I was with you there, for most of this. But that, _that_ 's just a load of fucking horseshit."

"You don't understand..."

"Shut up. _You_ don't understand."

Leiko paused to gather her thoughts, feelings and breath.

"The first bit of your speech. That. _That_ is what love it. It's bittersweet, and sometimes more bitter than sweet, but it's something that sounds in your voice. It runs so deep I can _hear_ it. But let me tell you something."

Kyoko had quickly gone from anger, to confusion, to anticipation. She waited for Leiko's next words.

"You don't fall in love because it's fate. And you sure as shit don't fall in love because you're _supposed_ to. You fall in love because he's strong, even when he's weak, you fall in love because of his inherent, stupid, _need_ to protect the people around him, and the guilt born from it that you try to fight. You fall in love with him because when he stands up and takes responsibility, when he orders, he _Commands_ , and everyone trusts him. And you fall in love with him because you trust him, too, because he makes you feel safe the way no one has before. You fall in love with him because he keeps the flame that shines way too bright in your heart from burning you, by letting his heart's ice melt against it."

She pauses to catch her breath and her heart from fluttering out of her throat.

"You fall in love with him for a million trillion reasons. And _none_ of them are because you're meant to. That's not how that works. And you're wrong, too, about what love is. It isn't putting the other's happiness before yours. Because if you love them, you love yourself, too, so that they can love you back. Love is building happiness, _together_. Sure it'll take some sacrifices, but that's from both sides."

Leiko stared into Kyoko. She looked at those night sky coloured eyes, and at that feeling, that spark she'd seen ever since she had arrived in Yatori. The one she now understood down to her very core. And Kyoko looked at her with a sharp pain in her chest and bittersweet words shaping up in her mouth.

Stunned silence was all that came out.

"So don't come to me with that 'meant to be' bullshit. That's not why you fell in love with him, and you know it just as well as I do."

Kyoko gave up on standing tall and let herself fall to sit on the ground. She softly curled up against herself, hands up to her temples, eyes wide from a realization she'd had long ago, but never wanted to accept. One beat of her heart later, her features softened into recognition.

"You really do love him, don't you?"


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Haru stopped mid-hammer strike and stared at the air in front of him. He blinked three times, pursed his lips and took a deep breath that finished in a sigh. His heart beat much too fast and he couldn't keep a sure grip on the hammer. He knew he wasn't ready. He knew he probably never would be. But really, neither hunting nor anything was ever about being ready.

He turned his head to look at Akio and spoke before he would have the time to stop himself.

"Commander."

His only response was a glance and a questioning look.

"I need to talk to you."

Akio offered a nod.

"I'm listening."

"Alone."

The Commander arched an eyebrow.

"We are."

Haru's nervousness translated to exasperation.

"I mean, like, somewhere where we won't be heard. Or bothered. In private."

Akio lay down his tools and unbent his knees, unfolding himself into standing. The Cadet looked to him like a tower, much too mighty, much too tall. He stayed in his shadow and wondered with a sharp pain in his heart if he would ever be half as strong. The Commander looked down to him and extended a hand.

"Let's go to the ship," he offered.

* * *

Haru nodded, grabbed the hand and frowned to himself.

The door he closed behind him sealed Haru's fate.

Having no escapes made him nervous. But he could not afford an escape. He felt his stomach twist itself into tight knots and he breathed so that he would not dig a hole to the sea down under.

Akio did not sit down or cross his arms. He stood and stared into the Cadet's eyes and he waited. Haru tried to swallow the lump in his throat. It didn't work.

"Look," he sighed instead.

He counted three seconds to allow himself to sigh once more and to gather the courage which slid through his fingers. He tried again.

"I... I know. That you know..."

Akio did not say 'go on' or 'get to the point'. Haru had always appreciated his patience.

"I... Okay. Okay. Leiko's mother is... gone. _Gone_ gone."

The Cadet's eyes snapped from the ground to stare into his Commander's. He pursed his lips to keep the tears from his eyes.

"Why didn't you tell her?"

"She doesn't need to know right now."

Haru had wanted to hear 'I'm just trying to protect her'. He knew this meant the same, but the different choice of words dug a tiny blade in his heart. And from this tiniest of wounds, he felt anger slowly slip out.

"What do you mean she doesn't need to know right now?! She needs to know as soon as she possibly can! In fact, she should've known from the moment it happened! I don't care how they'd have made that happen, it just... I just..."

Akio's poise simultaneously comforted and unsettled Haru. His stance shifted to something more becoming, straighter but still somehow more reassuring. The Commander laid his stare on his pupil and spoke almost softly.

"I don't expect you to agree with me. But this is a decision I have made in full conscience, and I will not go back on it."

The Cadet's nails dug into the flesh of his palms.

"You're much too stubborn! You... You... Okay."

He took the time to breathe, to calm himself so that he would not say things he didn't mean.

"I won't ask you to change your mind. But please hear me out."

"Of course."

Haru hadn't doubted he would be heard. Or perhaps he had, and now he regretted it. Nevertheless, he unfolded his fists and steeled his resolve.

"Keeping her in ignorance is the worst possible thing you could do. How would you feel if one of your parents died, and you only learned about it much later? Not just your parents: anyone you love? How would you feel if... if Hana died, and you didn't know, and later you found out someone was keeping that from you all along?"

Haru stopped himself from closing his eyes so that he could stare into his Commander's. And he stopped himself from crying so he would not have to close his eyes.

"When my parents died... I was far away. For all intents and purpose, I shouldn't have known until a year later. But they sent... They sent a messenger, who trekked for who knows how long to find me. And when he told me, I was devastated, of course... I cried, and I sobbed and I screamed, maybe. But when all that was over... Later, much later, when I could think clearly about all of that... I was so grateful. That they would think... That anyone would be willing to tell me that something bad had happened, so that I could grieve."

As he spoke, all of the certainty Haru had felt slip away when he closed the door behind him came back to straighten his shoulders and heal his heart. He could not doubt. He did not doubt.

"I could grieve, and I didn't have to go back to my home, months later, to find it empty. I didn't have to come back and be crushed under the guilt of having been happy while they were gone. I didn't have to expect my mother to kiss my forehead. I didn't have to wait for my father to hold me while I cried. I came back home and I looked at our house, I looked at the things that they had loved and I made peace. Because I could. I had grieved, and in a sense... That was just an opportunity to say goodbye. To be close to them, one last time."

He paused to gather himself.

"If nobody had told me... I would have been blindsided. And most importantly, I wouldn't have had that chance to say goodbye. To grieve as everyone else grieved. And, maybe that's stupid, but... to be sad, to cry and to be with them one last time before they were... Truly gone, before they departed to... wherever."

Silence fell slowly. Akio broke their shared gazes to make a decision he did not want to make. He looked out to the sea, to the horizon, and for a moment, he thought.

"I understand how you feel."

Haru hoped.

"But you must not tell her. Trust me. I am making this decision..."

"No."

Haru did not hope anymore. And Akio's eyes widened and his next words hung on his lips without being spoken.

"I don't care, even if you're ordering me to. You can kick me out of the Aces, you can stop teaching me, you can do whatever you want to try and stop me. But I'm telling Leiko that her mom is dead. I have to."

The Commander did not Command. He looked back to Haru and he felt betrayed, scared, surprised and proud all at the same time. He stared into his eyes for a moment, like he was searching for something. But the Cadet did not falter.

And Akio closed his eyes, as he did when giving up.

And Haru turned around, left and closed the door behind him.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

He was met with someone's forehead to the nose.

"Ow!"

They both yelped. Haru reached for his nose to sneakily wipe away a couple tears. The woman looked up to him and gave a wide smile.

"Sorry about that," she chimed. "A bit of a shit first impression, eh? Let's start over."

She held out a hand and Haru shook it.

"Hi! You must be Haru. I'm Yuki."

The Cadet nodded slowly.

"I am. Nice to meet you."

He paused, looking her over. Long black hair tied in a braid, porcelain skin, bright green eyes and a smile almost as wide as her face.

"Also, who are you? And what are you doing here?"

She erupted in a crystalline laughter. His puzzled look wore a red tint at how pretty she was when she laughed. He waited for her to finish.

"I'm serious, though."

She gave a bemused look and a smirk.

"I thought you guys were waiting for us?"

"Wait for... what?"

His eyes lit up in realization.

"Oh! You must be one of the two Hunters the Guild sent."

Yuki chuckled and crossed her arms under her chest. Haru looked away.

"I am."

She looked over his shoulder to the door behind him, and he would have backed away from her leaning in if he could have. Instead, he went red without moving an inch.

"So," and the sound of her voice was much too close to his ear, "I was told Akio would be in there."

She stepped back again and the Cadet took the time to breathe. He did not dare rub the redness out of his cheeks. Slowly, the heat came down from his brain and he realized that he should be surprised.

"Wait. How do you know the Commander's name?"

Yuki gave a grin. It gave the impression that she knew many secrets. Haru was flustered. He kept his composure to try and look serious when he realized something else.

"And mine, for that matter."

She reached out and he almost flinched. She patted him on the head.

"Don't worry about it."

He worried about it.

So he carefully manoeuvred himself to the other side of her and hoped he would not have to grab her so she would listen.

"Anyway, he's uh... Busy right now. Come on, the others should be back soon, I'll introduce you to them."

She graciously (and he thanked any god there was, if there was one, for that) turned to humour him. She smiled.

"Alright, alright, fine. I'm following."

He turned away to lead her and breathed a sigh of relief that he was grateful did not shake with sobs. He listened for her following footsteps and continued when they rose. Steady and regular, he concentrated on their sound to forget that he would have to face Leiko.

He climbed up to the ships bridge and his gaze was immediately drawn to Hideaki's hulking figure. His shoulders fell in relief that he would not have to deal with things just yet. He snapped to reality when Yuki let out an enthusiastic cry.

"Hideaki!"

He looked up from whatever he was doing and to the happy storm that was quickly heading his way. His eyes lit up when he recognized her.

"Yuki!"

She opened her arms for him and he gladly gave her a short hug.

"I'm so happy to see you!"

He smiled back.

"Same for me. How long has it been now?" he reminisced.

She looked to the sky and counted on her fingers. She lifted one, shook her head and put it down, thought about it for a second and gave up.

"I don't know. A couple of years?"

She shrugged, and Hideaki gave a chuckle. Haru made his way up to them. He thought 'you two know each other?' was a stupid question, so he was about to ask something else when he was interrupted by someone's footsteps up from the docks.

He recognized Leiko and fought the urge to jump off of the boat. Instead, he looked at Hideaki, who smiled at her and waved.

"Welcome back, Leiko. I assume the Gore Magala hunt went well?"

The Ace Hammer-wielder gave a small nod, then decided to gather herself and gave a more vigorous one. Hideaki pretended he hadn't seen the first one.

"Yep, the thing's as dead as dead goes. Who's this?"

She gestured her head towards Yuki in a smile. The woman smiled back with a wave and took a step forward to meet Leiko halfway. She extended a hand.

"I'm Yuki. Nice to meet you."

Leiko shook it.

"Leiko. One of the Hunters sent to help us, I presume?"

She'd noticed the Charge Blade that hung on her back. Yuki nodded. The Ace stared at the sword a bit longer.

"Nice blade, by the way."

Yuki beamed so bright Haru was almost blinded.

"Thanks!"

Leiko felt she'd done good and her spirits visibly lifted. She looked around, clearly searching for something and not finding it.

"Where's Akio?"

"Right here."

She turned to him as he went up the stairs and resisted the urge to throw herself into his arms. Instead, she patiently waited for him to get to them and grabbed his hand as he stood besides her. Yuki's gaze slid down to their embrace and then back up to their faces.

"Ouuh. Melted the ice queen's heart?"

This made Akio realized that someone was there. It took three seconds for Leiko to get the joke and snicker.

"Oh. Yuki. I hadn't seen you."

She made a face.

"Too absorbed by the love of your life?"

The Commander felt his hand being squeezed. He couldn't help a small smile. Yuki's smirk grew to proportions that probably shouldn't have been possible.

"I forgive you then."

He gave a nod, stern only because he was the one giving it.

Hana climbed up the stairs to the ship almost entirely silently, save for the squeak of a plank. She prepared for impact.

Yuki shrank the distance between them in half a second and wrapped her arms around Hana's neck, almost urgently pressing their lips together in a long kiss.

"What." Leiko and Haru echoed.

The kiss ended and Hana seemed unshaken.

"Hi," she said.

Yuki smiled.

"Hi," she purred.

"What." Haru and Leiko repeated.

Hideaki offered an explanation.

"This is Hana's girlfriend, Yuki."

"Oh."

Haru suppressed a slight bit of disappointment.

"Okay."

Leiko looked to Akio.

"Why didn't I know this before?"

He shrugged.

"It never came up?"

She accepted that answer.

"You know," she continued, "For a bit I thought Hana was in love with you."

"What."

"I know."


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Yuki promptly led Hana by her wrist and to her room, at the thought of which Haru went bright red. Akio gave the Cadet a look, then lay a kiss on Leiko's forehead and was on his way. Their fingers stayed intertwined until the very moment they couldn't anymore.

The Hammer-wielder watched him walk away with a mix of love and sadness. Haru cringed. He suppressed the shaking of his hands by shoving them in his pockets and took a step forward.

"Hey, Leiko?"

She turned to him with a questioning hum.

"Come with me. There's something I have to..." he swallowed around the lump in his throat, "something I have to tell you."

She arched an eyebrow, but nodded meekly.

"Okay."

He brought her off of the boat and into the village's streets. He aimed for a place that was fairly removed from public attention, but wasn't too far away that they could be ambushed by a monster or other. She followed him with an uncharacteristic patience. For some reason, this only made him more nervous.

He walked around much longer than he could have before she stopped him.

"We've walked around the entire village three times at this point, Haru. Just get to the point."

 _You're worrying me_ stayed safely under her tongue. She figured there was no point in making him freak out more than he already clearly was.

Haru turned around slowly. His gaze stayed safely nestled on the ground, never even vaguely looking at her. Leiko frowned. She pursed her lips around the questions she wanted to bombard at him, feeling a growing anxiety fill her chest.

"Leiko..."

"Please say something. You're freaking me out."

The Cadet clenched his eyes shut. He counted three seconds to give himself courage, and opened them to stare into the Hammer-wielder's. He wasn't sure he could speak without his voice faltering, wasn't sure he could speak without running away.

But in hunting and all else, it was never about being sure.

"Leiko... Your mother is... She's gone."

"What are you talking about?"

She wanted to sound incredulous, like she didn't believe it, like it was impossible, almost angry. She wanted to sound angry that he was playing with her. Just saying whatever to try to make her react. But her voice cracked.

"I... She's dead, Leiko."

This time it was her heart that cracked. She heard it clearer than she'd heard any sound before.

"She's... what?"

Haru's heart broke. He saw himself reflected in the tears making Leiko's eyes mirrors. He decided to admit everything.

"Your father told Akio. He was supposed to tell you. But he didn't. He wanted to protect you."

The Hammer-wielder's gaze snapped to a point in the horizon. There was a vague determination in her eyes, not quite drowned out by the tears. Haru was comforted a little.

"I'm going to go talk to my dad," her voice shook.

He let her go without a word.

Leiko knocked on the door to her childhood house without a second thought. Her father's gaunt face peeked through to her and he lay a spiteful look on her shaking figure.

"Leiko," he said.

She squeezed her fists.

"My _mother_ ," he voice cracked, "My mother _dies_ and your sorry ass isn't even willing to come and TELL ME?"

The silence he lay upon her made her stomach twist itself into the million pieces of broken glass that were her heart. The face she had angled towards the ground snapped up to meet his gaze. She hadn't wanted him to see her cry.

"Talk to me! Give me an excuse! Anything! 'I hate you, so I didn't tell you'! 'You're not my daughter anymore!' ANYTHING!"

Her last word did not have the roar she'd wanted it to, rather it was panicked, anguished. Scared. Pained. Like an animal's last call for mercy. She'd have hated herself for it if she'd been able to.

Aniki crossed his arms over his chest. And he spoke calmly, like he'd rehearsed it a thousand times before.

" _You_ killed your mother."

Leiko bent like she'd been dealt a physical hit.

"They said it was illness. They tried everything. Nothing worked. But I know why your mother died. She died of _grief_. Because you _left_ us."

Leiko staggered backwards. Only pure force of will and pride stopped her from falling.

"That's... That's not true..."

She whined weakly. She could feel herself crumbling, everything she believed to be true shattering around her.

"Believe what you will."

The coldness of his voice seeped into her every orifice. She refused to look at his face. She refused to look at herself. So she stared at the ground, watching her tears crash into the sand. She tensed up, she shook, like she wanted to fight back.

"You're wrong... I didn't... It wasn't my fault..."

Her voice broke into a whisper. Aniki stepped back behind the door.

"You are nothing to me anymore."

She heard the latch click shut.

Leiko turned around and left.

She stumbled across the village trying not to sob loudly. She clenched her teeth to stifle her crying. She climbed the stairs to the Unaaq wavering from side to side. Her hair tie got caught on something or other and snapped.

She stumbled into her and Akio's room and spotted a blur of blue and blond and crashed against it fists first.

"Why didn't you tell me..."

She hiccuped and sobbed, punctuating her talking with weak punches to Akio's chest.

"Why didn't you tell me my mother..."

His arms hovered around her but he never touched her. She shook free and punched him again.

"Why didn't you tell me my mother is..."

He felt her knees get weak.

"My mother is..."

A final punch, weak and soft.

" _Mommy_..."

She broke and he broke so she would not fall alone. She crumbled against him and he caught her and slid to the ground. She grabbed at him with all her strength, shaking wildly. He held her close and she cried harder.

She let out a long, pained moan between two sobs. Softly, he brushed the hair out of her wet face and felt completely and entirely powerless.

He wanted to say a thousand things, anything to try and make her feel better. He wanted her to feel better. He _needed_ her to feel better. But she clutched at him and she cried a thousand million tears and there was nothing he could do about it.

Nothing he could do about her chest heaving up and down, her shaking, the way her breathing got caught in her sobs. She cried out and wailed like a child, her tiny form curled up against him, and he could do nothing but hold her.

He was not in control. Everything about her slipped between his fingers. So he stayed silent. He calmed his breathing. Slowly, he shifted his stance so that he could reach the straps of her armour, and with slow, soft movements, he undid them.

Like she was his child, as tenderly as if it had been himself, wounded and alone, he took off her armour, piece by piece. And when he was done, and without ever letting go of Leiko, Akio doffed his. She buried her face against his chest, and he softly brushed the hair out of her face and behind her ear.

She cried and he held her. She did not reach for his strength or for his warmth, she remained broken and alone, but he held her.

And when her tears finally ran dry, when her body, exhausted, finally gave out to sleep, he held her. He wiped the tears off of her face with his thumbs, lay her head gently against his chest and he listened as her breathing slowed to match his own.

He spent the night not a watchful guardian. Simply a man with a shirt soaked in tears.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Haru had not expected a morning reunion. Yet, when the sun finished rising and Leiko and Akio still had not shown their weary faces, a pointed pain dug into his heart.

Hana sat on the boat's railing, as always, cleaning her gun. Yuki sat besides her, chatting idly, the Gunner offering input from time to time. The Cadet looked to them for a moment. Hana caught his gaze and gave an expression he did not understand.

Minutes later, Yuki lay a kiss on her lover's lips and set off.

Hana lay her gun against the railing with slow, precise movements. She beckoned Haru with a look. He hesitated.

"Come on. I'm not gonna shout at you."

The Cadet pursed his lips and shoved his hands in his pockets. He took a deep breath and obeyed. The Gunner crossed her arms over her chest and stared him in the eyes.

"So you went and told her."

He sighed as his shoulders fell.

"Yeah. I did."

Hana remained weirdly serious and pointed. He felt like she was looking through him, burning a hole in his chest trying to get his convictions to scatter. He held onto them.

"I told you not to do that."

She sounded disappointed. Like a mother disciplining their child, or a teacher holding back 'I told you so'. Haru curled his hands into fists from inside his pockets. He did not see Hana quickly glance at them.

"Yes, you did. And so did Akio."

"Yet," she continued, "You still went and told her."

The Cadet squeezed his fists.

"Yes."

Hana did not move an inch, still staring him straight in the eyes. Haru felt like she was trying to intimidate him. He did not falter.

"So you're telling me that two of you elders, certainly wiser and more experience than you are, told you – no, _ordered_ you – not to do something. And you ignored them."

The Cadet pursed his lips around something like anger. He felt some fire inside of him rumble, and it was not the one that usually reddened his cheeks.

"Yes."

He spoke carefully, so as to not release the flames slowly making their way up to his throat. Licking at his insides. Begging to be let out.

"And now you regret it."

He kept a shaky grip on his composure.

"And you want someone else to fix it."

"No!"

Hana arched an eyebrow at the sudden outburst. Haru shoved his hands out of his pockets and extended his arms to the sky like a challenge. Not to her, but to everything her authority stood for.

"That's not at all what's happening! I wouldn't ever go back on this decision, even if I could! It brought some consequences, but god dammit, I'm willing to face them, alone if I have to! I'll take all responsibility!"

"But you-"

He cut her off.

"No! Stop talking! Just because you're my elders, just because Akio's my mentor doesn't mean he's always right! I thought it did, I sure did, and for a long time. But now I realize that's not true! Sometimes, he can be wrong! And so can you! I understand his reasons, I really do, but doing that to Leiko is awfully unfair and I'd tell her even earlier if I could!"

He hadn't raised his voice, rather spoken this all in one go, letting out the fire, and now there was nothing but smoke and he had to catch his breath. He stared straight into Hana and she uncrossed her arms.

"I stand by what I did. You're wrong. Akio's wrong. And I don't know what Hideaki thought about the issue, but if he agreed with you guys he's wrong too! I don't care who sides with you, they're wrong! Whatever god there is, fate itself can come down to try and go back to stop me, but they'll kill me before they make me refuse to tell Leiko that her mother is goddamn DEAD!"

Hana listened silently. A bit of Haru he couldn't quite access right now was grateful for that.

"This isn't about being wiser, or more experienced! It's unfair to think you know better just because you're older! And I sure as _shit_ won't forsake my convictions just because I'm _ordered_ to!"

The Cadet's mouth closed shut so that he could catch his breath.

"You done?" Hana tried.

"I'm done," he answered.

"Okay."

The Gunner grabbed at the railing she was sitting on and leaned back casually. The sudden shift in her stance and attitude had Haru raise an eyebrow.

"Now," she said, " _That_ 's what I like to hear."

The Cadet blinked three times as he realized.

"... Did you just bait me into saying all of that?"

"Mmhm," she nodded.

"God _dammit_ , Hana."

Hana smirked through faking offence.

"What? I may have unorthodox methods, but they work. Sooner you got mad at me, or, rather, us, sooner you admitted to yourself that we _can_ be wrong. That's part of growing up, you know."

"You're managing to make this actually very harrowing emotional journey and moral realization out to be easy."

The Gunner shrugged.

"I'm not saying it is. But we all go through it, at varying levels, at some point. I'll argue yours was kinda rough, though."

"I appreciate it."

They smiled together, their hearts slightly healed, their wounds starting to close up.

Kyoko came up the steps to the Unaaq's deck with the sound of two sets of footsteps. Came up besides her a copy, for all intents and purpose, of herself, if only with lighter eyes. The Kindred Hunter gestured to this person, then to the two Aces.

"Hey guys. This is..."

Hana cut her off.

"Your sister, Moga's Hunter."

The gesture she had initiated hung in the air, incomplete, and her mouth clasped shut.

"Yes. That."

Her hands were brought back to herself in interrogation, her head lightly cocked to the side.

"How did you...?"

"The Switchaxe."

Hana gave a look to the second voice who had echoed her. The eyebrow she had raised soon fell to her smirk.

"Ceadeus _is_ pretty hard to find anywhere else."

Kyoko looked to Haru, who offered nothing but a shrug and sympathetic smile.

"Ayame, by the way," Moga's Hunter offered.

"It's a pleasure to meet you."

Haru gave a wide smile. The girl smiled back. The Cadet found himself wondering who was the oldest one between the two. He tried to recall when, exactly, Moga's Hunter had defeated the Ceadeus, but that didn't really mean anything. He decided it couldn't hurt to ask.

"Who's the oldest?"

He punctuated the question by pointing to both of them.

"I am."

Ayame raised her hand like a schoolchild.

"Successful family you have there," Hana noted.

Kyoko mildly retracted into herself and rolled her eyes. She was brought back to attention by her sister's arm wrapping around her shoulders and dragging her closer.

"Yeah, we are. She's just humble."

Moga's Hunter offered her sister a smirk which birthed the slow burning of comfort in her chest. Then, she looked back up to Hana.

"After all," she mused, "She got her skills from me."

A bit of the weight on Kyoko's chest melted away, and she looked up to Ayame with a grateful smile. The endearment Haru felt at that reminded him of something, and his glance shot to the door down to the Ace's rooms.

Hana decided she would let Akio deal with the mess.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Leiko stepped into the setting sun's light and just short of a bouquet of flowers.

She brought her foot back into the doorway and looked at the flowers. She recognized in the gesture Haru's initiative and Hideaki's expertise. The echo of gratefulness pooled in her chest.

Slowly, she bent down and took the bouquet between her fingers. She squeezed them lightly and rose. Akio smiled softly.

He remained silent as she made her way through the streets, holding the bouquet close. He watched the slowness of her walk, the way she kept her shoulders narrow, as if she was still curled up on herself. The way she angled her face towards the ground, towards herself, the way she held the flowers like the most precious thing in the world.

He followed her as she exited the town, taking a narrow path that led to the forest. He matched her pace when she led him to a small clearing, and when she made her way between the stones to finally stop at one.

Leiko softly knelt down, and lay flowers on her mother's grave.

She did not bring her hands together in prayer. This was conversation. She looked straight in front of her and softly spoke. He could not hear her. But these words were not his to hear.

He watched her give a small smile, bitter, sad, nostalgic. He watched it go through fondness, calm and longing. He watched as the tears started rolling down her face again, dripping off of her chin. He did not reach out to wipe them.

She spoke for a time. Then, she closed her eyes and pursed her lips, for a second. He saw her hands curl up on her lap. She opened her eyes to look straight to the grave, and she said, just loud enough for him to hear it:

"I'm sorry."

She stared like she was waiting for an answer. For a feeling of guilt, of loss to pass, for a quiet assurance that she had been forgiven.

Perhaps it came. Perhaps not. Regardless, Leiko sighed and unfolded herself. She brought her shoulders back, her stance straight and her chin high so she could look at him.

Akio's eyes met hers for the first time since before she had learned of her mother's death. And he saw in her a calm strength. She had cried, wailed, shaken like a child, lost and in pain. Had appeared so small she could fit in the palm of his hand. He had held her against himself, broken, alone.

And she had gotten up. She had picked up the pieces of her heart and mended it. Had hoisted her shaking frame to stand, and held herself together with gentle power.

He had never tried, never dared hope to do so when he had needed it. And so he saw in her a strength his shoulders could never carry.

He felt comfort. A wave of love washed over him, and he stood and felt his chest fill up with a warmth that almost made his heart explode.

She watched his eyes with something like longing.

"I want you to promise me something."

Her stare was serious, almost severe, but gentle. His silence was acceptance.

"Never hide something like that from me again."

She expected him to argue, but was not surprised when he did not.

"Don't try to carry the entire world on your shoulders. Don't try to protect me from myself. Whatever happens, we'll face it. Together."

He smiled. It felt like all of the love in the world.

"Will you marry me?" he asked.

That was his promise. She smiled back.

"Yeah. I will."


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

And suddenly, the wind turned.

It whistled in a sinister song. Everything got darker, like someone had pulled a blanket over the sun. The sky turned grey and heavy, it came down so low it felt like all one had to do was extend their hand to touch it.

Mothers ushered their children inside without reason, pushed by an ominous instinct. And yet the children followed without complaining, the first pangs of fear loading their hearts. Yatori had always been a quiet village: soon enough it was engulfed in a heavy silence.

The light emanating from house windows was not enough to chase away the darkness. Instead, Hunters walked around in almost-obscurity, led by instinct more than by sight. And without a word, they gathered in the Unaaq, where candles had been lit but offered very little warmth.

A shiver traversed Leiko.

They, too, observed silence. Words were not needed. They all knew, in their hearts and in their bones, what this meant. All that was left to do was wait.

Hideaki had received the message. As such, he was the one who broke the bad news.

"The Fatalis will be here tomorrow. It is Frenzied."

Kyoko blurted out: "What?"

Hideaki repeated: "The Fatalis is Frenzied."

"What do you mean it's Frenzied? Who said that? Can they be trusted?"

Kyoko was about to lose her grip on what was left of any inch of calm in her body. Hideaki remained entirely serene, or at least he seemed to.

"The Dragonseer spotted the Fatalis. They noted a weird purple hue to it; it's exhaling dust; and bright red eyes. I do not doubt that it is Frenzied."

The Kindred Hunter retracted stiffly. Ayame took a step towards her. Kyoko felt her presence and the vice-grip tension had on her spine loosened a little.

The question on everyone's lips was 'So what do we do now?'. The answer was 'We wait. And then we fight.' so no one bothered to ask. Because if they couldn't do it, then who could?

"We can't let it go Apex," Leiko noted.

"So we can't repel it. We have to kill it," Yuki completed.

Akio took a long, deep breath. He turned to Hideaki and Hana.

"The Restraint. We have received it, correct?"

The Lancer nodded.

"We shall install it in the clearing, like we discussed?"

On the table lay a map of Yatori and it's surroundings. On the map was encircled a clearing, which Leiko and Kyoko recognized as the place where they had fought the Gore Magala. Hideaki pointed to it.

"Yes. It is the only place large enough for us to manoeuvre in correctly that is far away enough from the village and close enough that we can reach it fast. On top of that, it is where the Gore Magala nestled: I believe the Fatalis will be drawn there by instinct."

Haru asked: "Why?"

"Because Fatalis are grudgeful creatures. No doubt this one is heading here because it seeks revenge on the monster who infected it."

Kyoko's voice trembled slightly.

"But we killed the Gore Magala! Why is the Fatalis still coming?"

"Perhaps it does not know. Or perhaps the virus has done ravages to it's mind which leave nothing but the desire for vengeance. It's difficult to tell."

The Kindred Hunter retracted once more. The Commander spoke again.

"Hideaki, Hana, Ayame and I will go and install the Restraint. Haru, you will go and inform the village chief of the news. Leiko, Kyoko and Yuki will search around the village and the clearing for any monsters, and eliminate them. Understood?"

Hunters nodded with various amounts of vigour.

"We will meet back here in five hours."

Affirmative answers all around. The Hunters broke off into three groups and scattered like ants with a purpose.

* * *

There were no monsters to eliminate. Every animal and creature around Yatori had fled the moment the sky had gone dark. So, five hours later, Leiko, Yuki and Kyoko walked back to the Unaaq empty-handed. It was better this way.

Haru stood up from the table when the door opened.

"Welcome back, guys."

Yuki waved, Leiko nodded and Kyoko tried to muster a smile.

Seconds later, Akio, Hana, Hideaki and Ayame entered as well.

Haru said: "I wrote to the Guild, too, to update them on the situation."

"Good thinking, Haru," the Commander complimented.

It was then that stomping footsteps were heard on the deck. All were various levels of startled, until they heard Eiji's indignant voice as he demanded to be let in the Ace's meeting room. Then, the general mood of the room went from anxiousness to exasperation.

Eiji burst into the room with no regards for the mood or the situation at hand. He threw an accusing finger towards Leiko.

"Why are you so intent on ruining my life?!"

Stunned silence. From everyone.

"... What?"

Yatori's Hunter looked irate, like Leiko had just denied the worst crime she had committed.

"I had a good thing going with Kyoko. I really liked her. And you ruined it."

Kyoko said: "I'm right here, you know."

He ignored her. Leiko rolled her eyes.

"You've known her for like three days."

"That didn't give you the right to ruin everything!"

"I didn't do anything."

"Well it must be your fault!"

"Eiji, please. Not right now."

Eiji seemed to be growing more and more irate. Leiko, on the other hand, seemed to grow only calmer as she watched him boil with anger. This only made him madder.

"What do you mean, not right now? Fuck you!"

Leiko sighed.

"Please. We're in the middle of something important."

She felt it was like he hadn't even notice the sky darken, or that anything was _actually_ wrong. She wondered what the real problem was. Surely he wouldn't get that worked up over Kyoko. She knew him, and he didn't get attached like that.

"Don't treat me like a child!"

"I'll stop treating you like a child once you stop acting like one. Now can you please leave us?"

"You can't shut me out! I'm mad at you!"

"Eiji, _please_ , for the love of god. Stop making a scene."

At this, he retracted in on himself. Leiko thought he was finally being reasonable. Really, he was coiling in on himself, like a snake preparing to strike, and he lunged just like one.

"Wow. No fucking wonder your mom killed herself over you."

Akio's stomach dropped to his heels. He stepped closer to Leiko. Her eyes widened, then closed. She dropped her head to look at the ground for a little bit. Then, she lifted it up and stared into Eiji's eyes. And she stared, for a little bit, in silence. Then she asked a question.

"Why did you leave me, the exact moment when I needed you most?"

He had been ready to retort to whatever abuse she would send his way: this wasn't at all what he expected. He stopped dead in his tracks and closed the mouth he'd half-opened to speak. Slowly, he looked away. He looked... not quite ashamed. More like sad.

"I didn't know..." he trailed off.

"You didn't care. I needed you, and you left because you had found a new toy to play with."

"She wasn't a toy."

"So _I_ was, then?"

Eiji looked to the ground like a child being reprimanded.

"No."

"Then _why_ did you leave?"

Leiko's stance reached out to him. It was the first time she ever truly asked for answers. The first time she'd really, actually wanted them. Not to prove to herself that he was terrible. Just to _know_.

Eiji had a long sigh. He looked back up to Leiko.

"I don't know. I don't know why I left. I just did. It felt good, at the time. And I liked Rin. But you know what?"

He stared, like he expected her to answer. To guess. She didn't say a word.

" _I regretted it_."

Leiko was taken aback. Hana crossed her arms over her chest. Akio stood, ever silent, like a pillar behind her.

"Two, three weeks later, I laid in bed with Rin. And I looked at the ceiling. And when I turned my head, and it wasn't you there, beside me, I regretted everything. I didn't want _Rin_ to cuddle up on my side. I didn't want _Rin_ to look at me, to kiss me. I wanted you. Because it wasn't Rin I was in love with. It was you. I felt it through every fibre of my being, through every thread of my heart, like a fire had started spreading long ago and I'd just then realized was there. It consumed me.

And then, as I looked at a face that wasn't yours, in a town that wasn't yours, in a life that wasn't yours, I regretted everything.

So I grabbed my stuff and I went back. I walked back to Yatori, hoping to everything on this earth that you'd still be there. Obviously, you weren't. So I stayed here and I waited. I figured, if you'd ever loved me, you'd send a letter. Anything. Something to prove that you were alive. Even just to spite me, I didn't care: I just wanted to know you were alive. And if I knew that, I could chase you. I'd have chased you across the entire world if I'd had a single bit of proof that you were alive."

Leiko stared at him. Something in her was healing. A book was closing. She had longed for this kind of thing: for Eiji to admit he had done something wrong. But right now, all she felt was pity.

"But you never sent anything. Clearly, you didn't care about me enough to even bother to give a sign of life. Yet... Even if I buried it, bashed it, hid it, there was always this tiny, tiny hope that you would finally give me something. Seven years, I waited, Leiko. Seven years. And then you show up, like nothing ever happened, with your... with your _boyfriend_ , over there, and your new life, and it's like I never even existed for you."

She looked at him. She stared at his sadness, at a pain she'd never expected him to feel. She saw in front of her a boy, a child who spat out insults only because his heart hurt and he blamed the world for it.

She said: "I'm sorry."

Eiji had opened his mouth to continue speaking; it made a noise when he clasped it shut.

"You... are?" he asked.

She nodded.

"... I see. I'm... I'm sorry too."

She stepped over the breach between them and opened her arms. He didn't know how to react. She softly brought him to her, nestling his chin in the spot between her shoulder and neck. Slowly, he lifted his arms, wrapped them around her, dug them in her back, and he buried his face in her neck. He held her like she was the last thing keeping him alive. Or something he'd lost long ago and never hoped to find again.

"It's okay," she whispered. "It's going to be okay."


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Small ripples ran along the tea in Hana's cup. The drink almost imperceptibly swayed left and right as she lifted it to her lips and took a small sip.

Yuki hated Hana's attention to detail. She felt a guilty tinge of satisfaction as she watched her tea ripple with the trembling of her hand. Of course, she had hidden the other hand under the table, and otherwise kept her arms crossed at all times to hide her shaking.

Hana opened the eyes she'd closed to appreciate the tea's aroma. She looked at the drink in her cup, watched it ripple, and set it down. There had been no apparent urgency in her gesture, and there was no apprehension in the way she lifted her eyes to Yuki.

Yuki said: "It's fine to be scared, you know."

Hana slowly moved to cross her arms, but froze and set it back down when Yuki glared at her.

She said: "I'm not."

"Don't lie to me, Hana."

She looked at her with a fierce sincerity. When Hana didn't look away, Yuki reached out across the table and lay three fingers on her knuckles.

They sighed in unison. Yuki's head fell with a disbelieving chuckle. She felt her girlfriend's hand tense up.

"It's fine," she said.

She lifted her face and met Hana's eyes.

"We're going to be fine."

Hana simply flipped her hand and took Yuki's fingers between hers.

* * *

Akio stood at the Unaaq's bow like a silent figurehead.

Arms crossed behind his back, he watched the horizon, engulfed in shadows. Shoulders straight, chin high, he looked like he was defying fate. Like the last man standing, the last barrier between the world and a darkness that would destroy it all.

Kyoko watched him, his form traced, it seemed, by a light that wasn't there. Perhaps it was the last, dying rays of the sun, soon to be absorbed in dark clouds. She watched the line of his silhouette, the shape of his shoulders, the blonde hair cascading down his back.

He felt her presence, perhaps, because Akio turned to look behind him and lay his gaze onto her. As he faced her, she watched the line of his jaw, the curve of his neck, and his eyes like shining emeralds.

"Did you need something?"

His voice broke her trance. Her cheeks went pink and she immediately looked away. He raised an eyebrow.

Kyoko felt her knee almost bouncing and pressed her feet firmly against the ground to stop her legs from shaking. She curled and uncurled her hands, over and over, like it could keep her heart from beating so fast it would burst out of her chest.

She looked back up to him and said:

"I need to tell you something."

"I'm listening."

She opened her mouth. But before she could speak, she noticed his hands, holding onto the railing behind him, so hard she thought the wood would split any second. And she noticed the tenseness in his shoulders, and this look in his eyes. She'd never noticed it, but she felt like she'd seen it before.

Had she asked, Leiko would have told her it was fear. For now, she didn't know, but it gave her a heavy, uncomfortable feeling deep in her stomach.

Kyoko uncurled her hands, and she sighed.

"No, actually, you know what? It can wait."

She felt a surge of determination. A certainty she had deeply needed to feel.

"I'll tell you once we've beaten the Fatalis."

Akio let go of the railing. A shadow of a smile passed on his face.

"Alright."

* * *

Haru left the Caravan's camp with a kind smile and a wave. He spotted Leiko, who had waited for him outside, and made his way towards her.

"So, how'd it go?" she asked.

He scratched the back of his neck with an apologetic smile.

"She rejected me."

"Damn."

She put her arm around his shoulders and affectionately squeezed him against her.

"Girl doesn't know what she's missing."

He gave a light chuckle, but leaned softly into the embrace.

"It's fine. You win some, you lose some."

He shrugged. She started leading him away.

"You're right. I don't doubt for one second that soon, you'll meet someone who can see how amazing you are. Now come on, I'll make you the greatest hot chocolate you've ever tasted. You'll instantly forget about that girl."

He smiled and wrapped his arm around her. She squeezed him a little bit more when she felt him lean his head against hers.

"Okay."

* * *

Eiji climbed the stairs to the Unaaq's deck two by two. Once on the bridge, he immediately spotted Akio and Kyoko, seemingly idly chatting away. He strode up to them.

"Hey guys."

They looked up to him.

"So when, and where are we fighting that Fatalis?"

Kyoko kept being impressed by Eiji's ability to ignore tone and mood. Now, she was even more impressed by his clearly inherent inability to realize the severity of a situation.

Akio stared at him.

Eiji insisted: "What? I'm serious!"

"You're not fighting the Fatalis."

"Seriously?! This is my town!"

Eiji looked like he had just been done a personal affront. Eyes wide, he opened his arms as if to demonstrate the place he was talking about. The Commander sighed.

"Look, I don't think you understand how dangerous that thing is."

"I can take 'im!"

Kyoko looked uncomfortable. She didn't say anything.

"No. You can't. There is a reason two of the top hunters in the entire world have been shipped here."

Eiji gave an exasperated sigh.

"Come on! You can't just push me to the side like that."

It was then Leiko popped up beside him, giving all assembled an interrogative look.

"What's up?"

Eiji turned to her.

"He won't let me fight the Fatalis with you guys!"

She stared at him. He looked like he was waiting for an answer. She kept staring at him.

"What?" he snapped.

"You seriously thought you were going to fight the Fatalis? Like, you know, the strongest monster in the entire world? The one that razed entire cities? That was repelled and thought to be killed hundreds or years ago and is now back with a desire for blood? The thing that destroyed an entire country, leaving only the ruins of a castle?"

She looked like she could go on. He crossed his arms over his chest with an insufferable confidence.

"Yes."

She stared at him a bit more. Then, she took a deep breath. Leiko squeezed her eyes shut and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Okay. Eiji."

"Yeah?"

"We're gonna set something straight."

"I'm listening."

"If you try to fight the Fatalis, you will _literally_ die. Literally. There is not a single doubt. Everyone that was sent here is amongst the best hunters in the entire world, and we're all terrified down to the tip of our toes. I don't think you understand how serious this is."

He looked like things were finally sinking in. Eiji lightly pursed his lips and gave Akio a sidelong glance. Then, he looked back to Leiko.

"Fine."

She looked relieved. He opened his mouth to speak, thought for a second, then clasped it shut. He looked to everyone.

"Well. I guess I'll leave you guys to your preparations, or whatever."

He turned heel and left as fast as he'd arrived. Leiko watched him leave until he was off the boat. She spun to face Akio and Kyoko.

"I hope he doesn't do anything stupid."

Kyoko shrugged.

"He seemed fairly convinced to me," Akio offered.

Leiko nodded absentmindedly.

* * *

Inside, Haru met Hideaki, sat at the Unaaq's 'meeting room' table. He plopped down in a chair besides him. The Lancer glanced up and greeted him with a low hum.

"So, what are you doing?" Haru asked.

Hideaki kept staring at the map.

"I'm making sure that the place we've picked to fight the Fatalis is far away enough."

"Oh."

Haru lightly drummed his fingers against the table. He let a few moments pass in silence.

"Leiko is going to make me some hot chocolate. Do you want some?"

Hideaki didn't look up and gave a nondescript hum as his only answer. Haru looked around.

"It's really weird how the weather changed so fast, huh?"

This time, there was no answer. The Cadet started fidgeting with his hands and bouncing his leg under the table. He watched as the Lancer frowned at the map, staring at it like it held all of the answers to his questions.

"Hideaki?"

"Yes?"

"I'm scared."

Hideaki stopped what he was doing and looked up. He sat up straight, leaving the map, and brought his hands back to the edge of the table. He turned to Haru and gave a small smile.

"I'm scared too."

Haru couldn't tell if this was comforting, or even scarier. That Hideaki, the man with all the experience in the world, who had seen everything, saw the threat coming and felt fear. Haru pursed his lips.

"Can we really do it?" he asked.

Hideaki reached out and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Yes. We can. It will be difficult, but we can do it."

The Cadet looked up to him, uncertain.

"Really?"

Hideaki nodded.

"Okay. I believe you."

The Lancer smiled and let go of his shoulder.

"Good boy."

Haru gave a weak smile. Hideaki answered with a calm one. Then, he pushed his chair away from the table.

"Now, how about some hot chocolate?"

* * *

Akio stood at the Unaaq's bow like a silent figurehead.

The pale, weak rays of the moon pierced through the clouds. Leiko watched as they lined his silhouette, and she was reminded of that night atop the ruined tower in Dundorma.

She remembered his crooked posture, hunched over his scar like the Kushala Daora's fangs were still tearing his flesh. She remembered the pain, whole, all-devouring, that inhabited his eyes. And the fear that had every inch of his soul, the one that he would fail, again, that he would cause so much suffering.

She remembered how she had not held him, that, night, simply she had knelt besides him and waited. She could almost still feel, at the back of her throat, the bitter aftertaste of tears, and the way his name, the way _Akio_ had rolled off her tongue the first time.

Just like that night, he did not move as she approached. Softly, she wrapped her arms around his waist. She slid a hand under his shirt to trace his scar with the tip of her fingers. Not the left one, not the one reminiscent of his failure, no; the right one, the one he had obtained saving her and Haru's life.

She laid her forehead on his back with a light thump. She felt the muscles in his back move as he lifted his face to look at the sky.

She felt her heart reach out to him, so hard and so suddenly she thought it might break out of her chest. Instead, she held him just a bit tighter.

"Can't sleep?"

He simply gave an affirmative hum.

She sighed. He felt her breath through the thin fabric of his shirt; a shiver ran through him. She smiled.

"It won't help to be standing out here. You should come back to bed."

Slowly, he slid his hand along her arm until he could hold hers. He softly squeezed her fingers.

"If I'm going to be honest here, I don't think I'll sleep either way."

"Well," she breathed, "It was worth a try."

His chuckle was more of a light exhale than anything, but it was something. She turned her head to press her cheek against his back.

"Do you remember what I told you when we were about to fight the Kushala Daora?"

He let a heartbeat's worth of silence pass before answering. She knew it wasn't because he'd forgotten.

"You told me you would not leave me. You also told me that I would make it. And that I was stronger than I thought."

He felt her nod.

"And do you remember what you answered?" she asked.

Slowly, he spun to face her. He grabbed her chin between his index and his thumb, lifting her face, and softly lay his forehead upon hers. She felt his breath on her lips.

"I told you," he breathed, "That there was nothing in this entire world that could stop me from protecting you, and everyone else."

She smiled a wide smile, of those that melted his heart. They stared into each other's eyes.

"It worked out pretty well last time."

"You're right."

Their leaning in was mutual. And for the span of a kiss, they believed that everything would be alright.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

The world's eight best hunters stood at it's end.

Night had not given in to day. There was no warmth in the sun's hidden light, in the dark, heavy clouds that filled the sky. The air was still; there was no calm in the silence that enveloped them all. Only the sound of their breathing, chest heavy, suffocating under the expectations, the hopes of the world.

Yet they listened. They were unsure what to expect: the flap of gigantic wings, the darkening of the earth, the end of all light, perhaps. A gigantic shadow, covering the sky, blinding them in a storm of fire and death.

What came was a roar.

Like thunder, a sound that shook the ground under their feet and the resolve in their hearts. The Ace Commander steadied both as he watched Fatality cover the sky.

"Hideaki, NOW!"

The Restraint made a deep clunking noise as the Ace Lancer struck it. The arrow flew and Fatality's flight was stopped, and it fell and covered the sun once again. Gigantic wings flapped; the Restraint's cables strained and cracked and snapped, creaking noises rung in their ears like a failure they were not yet willing to accept.

Was Man this weak in front of Monster? Was Man this frail in front of Fatality?

Perhaps not; not yet. Fatality flapped it's wings but gained no height, unable to release itself of the chains that dug into it's flesh. So Fatality fell, down, all the way down from the heavens and onto the earth, and it roared in rage as it hit the ground.

A Bowgun's shots hardly pierced it's scales. Hammers tried to crush it's claws; blades searched for the softness of flesh. None succeeded.

And Fatality roared, once again, as it righted itself with a flap of it's wings, and blackness enveloped the clearing, tiny specks of dust coming down like deadly rain.

Kyoko's right leg itched. She felt the scar along it like a burning reminder of what she had done. All she had accomplished.

She had faced a god once. There was no reason she could not do it again.

She roared as Fatality did. And she lunged and brought her Hammer down again, and under the hit she felt, she heard a crack, and she saw two scales fly off, and the claw she had broken.

There was no time to see Fatality's tail as it whipped around to her, but she heard it, although she knew there was no time to get away. And when the hit came, she did not feel spikes dig into her back, snap her spine or break her neck: no, she felt only the clanging of armour against hers and she heard the sound of scales against metal and _the shield did not crack_.

Hideaki felt his boots slide against the earth but he remained steady. And he brought his Lance up, thrust it into the Fatalis' tail, and he felt scales give way to flesh and blood, and a speck of light, minuscule, pierce the sky.

"Holy shit!"

Leiko's voice echoed in the clearing.

" _Holy shit_!"

And with it their hearts settled and their resolve awoke again, burning bright inside their chests. Ayame's weapon shifted as she struck, sending scales flying. She, too, had fought a god, deep in the seas. Nothing could stop her now.

The Fatalis roared, shining fire between it's teeth. It dug it's claws into the earth and steadied itself: three of Hana's shots tore at it's face, and it spun to face her, releasing a burst of flames. It was too fast for her to move completely out of the way: she faced it head on. And there was no surprise in her eyes when Yuki shielded them both with a burst of power from her weapon's shield.

She withstood the flames of hell before the Fatalis turned to another threat. She shook her arm free of the fire and almost dropped her shield.

" _Jesus christ_ that's hot!"

Akio slashed at an articulation between scales and danced out of the way of the Fatalis' claws. Haru deflected another hit, inching closer to his Commander, this time, with his shield.

Leiko ran towards the Kindred Hunter while the Fatalis was distracted.

"Kyoko! Boost me!"

Kyoko lay her Hammer down and waited for Leiko's weight on it, for her step to spring before she sent it up, before she sent her flying towards the Fatalis in a jump only she could pull off.

Leiko landed on the beast's back on her feet and continued running, towards it's neck until she leaped, grabbing onto it and feeling the scales dig into her flesh. She steadied herself and grabbed her Hammer with her free hand. Her hit came down to the creaking of her weapon, to a thump like thunder and the Fatalis reeled. It roared and -

"IT'S GONNA SPRING UP!"

Kyoko's warning came seconds before the fact: Leiko leaped off just in time and landed on – not the ground she had expected, rather in a mangling of armour. She lost her balance and they both fell in a mess of limbs as she recognized the arms around her. _Oh no._

"I gotcha!"

"EIJI, NO!"

She scrambled to her feet and for her Hammer, as she'd let go of it with the impact.

"Leave, Eiji! This is not the time!" Akio screamed.

"I'm going to protect my village! You guys can't have all of the fun!"

Leiko grabbed her Hammer. Fatality landed, and black dust swirled all around the battlefield.

Kyoko warned: "Guys, this is bad! Try not to breathe it in!"

"Bullshit! What's a little dust gonna do to me?"

The Lancer deflected a blow heading for Kyoko. She used the cover to deliver a hit with her Hammer, sending scales flying and breaking another claw. The Fatalis roared and spun to face her in a lunge that would've eaten Hideaki and her alive had they not jumped out of the way.

The Fatalis' tail whipped around, missing Leiko's head as she bent down to dodge it.

She had always imagined the shattering of bones to sound sharper, like a rock against another. Instead, there was a dull sound, a thump, like a bag of sand as Fatality's tail smashed into Eiji. He flew back and he crashed against a tree with the clanging and breaking of armour, and her voice broke when she screamed.

"EIJI!"

There was no answer. Fatality brought it's tail back around and missed her head by mere centimetres when Ayame tackled her to the ground.

A burst of flames reddened Hideaki's shield as he protected Kyoko and himself. He felt it bend and weaken as the Fatalis lunged at them again, and again, sending claws and fangs in an effort to finally bring them down. A relentless assault they could not dodge out of, with no choice but to stand their ground and slowly falter.

"Hideaki, I'm going to -"

"You're going to stay behind this shield and you're not going to do anything stupid," he growled.

"But -"

"No buts!"

"But -"

"Shut up! I have the shield, I decide!"

 _Clang. Clang. Clang. Cl-_

A shot flew and found it's mark. It embedded itself in the Fatalis' eye with a spurt of blood and a deafening roar.

"Over here you lizard fuck!"

Hana dodged out of a burst of fire, slightly misaligned. She ripped off her flaming sleeve with nothing but a light groan as Yuki took advantage of the distraction to thrust her axe into the Fatalis, sending out a burst of power that blew away chunks of scales and flesh.

"How'd you like that, motherfucker?!"

Fatality roared and swiped at her: she jumped back to dodge it. A second swipe came, which she dodged as well, although just short this time: she saw the third strike coming and braced for impact. The Fatalis' claws embedded themselves into Hana's Gun instead of Yuki, and the Ace Gunner felt her weapon crack and finally shatter under the pressure.

They were both pushed back several meters with the remaining force of impact, tumbling into each other and sending up a cloud of dust.

"Hana!" Akio screamed.

Fatality turned to him and sent Haru away with the wind up for it's swipe: he yelped but could do nothing but topple further.

Akio dodged the swipe as the Fatalis brought it's head down and prepared to send out a burst of hell fire. The flames narrowly missed their mark as Leiko's Hammer crashed against the beast's maw, successfully deflecting the attack.

"Leiko, LOOK OUT!"

But at such range, there was nothing Leiko could do to dodge the swipe coming her way in time: it was all Akio could do to pull her against him before the impact. And it did hit, sending them among the trees: not nearly as hard, though, as it's original trajectory. The Fatalis was interrupted as it reeled in pain. Ayame had dug her sword in the same spot she had seen Yuki do so, sending in turn a burst of power into the beast's soft, exposed flesh.

It turned to face her as she dodged it's tail, tumbling to the ground with the momentum of her weapon's eruption. Kyoko bashed the next attack away.

"Careful. Go!"

Ayame scrambled to her feet, but she quickly grabbed at her sister and pulled her down under a rush of flames. Hideaki pierced at the Fatalis' first broken claw, grabbing it's attention. He held his shield up to a full body lunge, the sound of fangs against metal screeching as he flew backwards and out of Haru's sight.

There was a bizarre slowness (at least it seemed so) as Fatality turned to face Haru.

The boy looked around for help. He felt the Fatalis' stare burning through him, sending chills down his spine.

But he was alone. For now, for this moment, he was alone.

Haru gripped the handle of his sword firmly. He watched Fatality's eye, it's stare, cruel. He felt like it was enjoying seeing him there, the last one standing.

It was heaving, the gaping wound in it's side bleeding profusely, several of it's claws broken, it's fangs slightly cracked, with Hana's shot still stuck inside it's eye. And Haru would have liked to think that this was when a monster was most dangerous; when it fought with the strength of desperation.

But there was no desperation in Fatality's eye. Like it was unaware of it's own mortality. Like it knew it could not die.

"Come at me."

And, as if commanded, as if it had been waiting for this last taunt before it could seal it's victory, the Fatalis lunged at Haru.

Haru closed his eyes. He took a deep breath. And when he felt the air shift around him, to his left, he stepped away. And when he felt Fatality's fangs close in around him, when he felt the warmth of it's mouth and almost, almost the pain of it's attack, he sent his sword arm up, until he felt his blade meet soft flesh.

And he felt the beast's fangs dig into his shoulder, tear at muscle. And pain shot through his entire being, and blood gushed out of his wound, and he felt his grip weaken, but it could not. It could not and so it did not, and he pushed, through the pain, through the weakness and he pierced, into the beast's head from the inside until he felt his sword come out on the other side.

Suddenly, silence fell.

Haru's heart beat. Once. Twice.

And Fatality fell.

It collapsed around him just as he pulled his arm out, just as he stumbled backwards and fell to the ground with a thud. And he looked at the sky. And he watched as the sun's light pierced through dark clouds.

And he breathed. And he smiled.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Haru woke up to the sound of loud, steady snoring. It took seven seconds for his brain to register the pain he was in, and the feeling of soft sheets under him. He looked himself over, the upper right part of his chest and his shoulder completely covered in bandages under which he could feel the dull pain of a burn, and the sharp pain of a wound closing.

Haru realized that he was alive. He was in a lot of pain, yes, but he was alive. And he looked up, his stare drawn to figures sat at his bedside. Akio, even as he slept, sat upright, Leiko's head resting on his shoulder. Someone had covered them with a blanket. Haru's attention was brought back to the snoring; that someone – Hideaki – was probably sleeping on the floor, as the Cadet couldn't see him. He gave a small sigh and a smile.

Hana was slouched against a wall, arms crossed under her chest. The lack of blanket had Haru guess that she'd decided to come and watch over everyone, and fallen asleep herself. It still, somehow, made Haru feel safe. He turned his head to the window on the left side of the room, and watched as the night sky dabbled in pink.

The skies were completely clear. It almost seemed like the whole ordeal had been a dream.

Sharp pain anchored him in reality. He turned his head back to his friends. Hana's left arm was covered in dirty-looking bandages (he'd have to berate her for taking too long to change them), Leiko's hands were wrapped in cleaner ones, and Akio's right arm rested in a sling. As Haru wondered what state Hideaki could be in, the snoring stopped.

There was a grunt, not quite pained. And the Lancer's head peeked into Haru's field of vision, until the man was completely unfolded in his full height. And Hideaki turned to look at him – their eyes met. They smiled.

"Hi."

"Good morning, Haru."

Hideaki's shield arm – his right one – was covered in bandages and held in a splint, curled up against him in a sling.

"How are you doing?" the Lancer's voice was soft, as to not wake the others.

"I'm fine," Haru smiled, "just a little sore."

Hideaki chuckled silently.

"Don't make an Akio of yourself. Don't lie about this kind of thing: it can be dangerous."

Haru's smile took an apologetic edge: "I am in quite a lot of pain. Sorry."

"Thank you. I'll go tell Doctor Shuu that you are awake, and be back with breakfast."

"Okay. Thanks."

Hideaki softly closed the door behind himself.

Haru was left alone again, in a room full of sleeping warriors.

He was happy.

He watched all of their faces, their chests heaving up and down, softly, perhaps shallower than usual. But they were safe: they were alive. In pain, perhaps, and tired, exhausted from carrying the fate of the world. They didn't have to do that anymore. Not yet. And in this moment was peace; a small piece of heaven Haru would carry with him for the rest of his life.

Warmth pooled up in his chest, much nicer, much softer than the burn on his skin. He lifted his left arm to wipe the tears off of his cheeks.

* * *

"The Fatalis' fangs missed all of your vital organs, and strictly punctured muscle. The strength of the bite shattered your collarbone, but it's nothing a splint and some rest will not fix. The Fatalis' fire cauterized the wound and kept you from bleeding out. Overall, you will regain all of your abilities with a bit of rehabilitation. You are a very lucky young man."

Haru kind of felt like he was being reprimanded. Shuu's tone was flat and a little sombre, even when he gave good news. Haru would later realize that this was simply the way he was. For now, it made him a bit uncomfortable. He gave a squirm and a nod as only answers.

"You make it sound like he's dying, doctor," Leiko noted. Seeing Shuu again had made her strangely happy. She freely bantered with (or rather at) him.

He rolled his eyes – Leiko couldn't see it, but it made Haru chuckle.

Akio gave a half-smile: "I think you should let the doctor do his job without bothering him, darling."

Leiko huffed. "Fiiiine."

There was silence as Shuu changed Haru's bandages, readjusted the splint and set him back against a couple pillows. He left with the promise that he would be back the day after, and recommendations on what to do and not (nourish yourself, get plenty of sleep, don't push yourself, don't move around too much). Leiko mouthed the words as they came out.

The doctor closed the door, and she chuckled.

"I must've heard that spiel a hundred times. You'll know it by heart by day three."

Haru smiled.

"Yeah? Why did they ship him here, anyway? I'm sure the town's doctor could've handled it."

"That old man?" Leiko scoffed. "He'd probably try to feed you weird herbs and hope for the best. We needed the best doctor the Guild has to offer for the man who saved the world!"

She was as triumphant as if she'd done it herself. Haru's cheeks went bright red.

"Come on, you know that's not true. I didn't do much."

Leiko jumped to her feet – winced in pain – and Akio got up to help her, stifling a grunt between his teeth. She berated him with a look, and he offered a stare as only apology.

"You stabbed the damn Fatalis in the head! FROM THE INSIDE!"

She extended an arm too fast to point at him and repressed a small whimper. Akio's eyes narrowed in disbelief and he sighed.

"Calm down, Leiko. You're gonna break another rib."

She turned her head to look at him, but she gestured insistently towards Haru.

"But! He stabbed! The Fatalis! In the head! From the damn inside! And here he is, saying he didn't do anything! Who the hell does that!"

"I mean, it's not like I did everything myself. I just delivered the finishing blow: that's all."

Leiko slowly and carefully crossed her arms over her chest under Akio's watchful eye.

"You need to get some confidence up in you, boy. There literally is no one else in the world who can claim they did what you did. And here I thought I'd taught you well."

She faked a disappointed sigh, and he chuckled shyly.

Silence settled. Haru had a thought.

"How's everyone else? Kyoko, Ayame, Yuki...?"

He trailed off. He'd realized halfway through the question that it would open a door he wasn't ready to look past. He pursed his lips.

Leiko did the same. Her stare slid to the ground.

"Kyoko's back is badly scorched, but she is otherwise fine," Akio began. "Ayame's armour is ruined, but she herself only suffered light wounds. Yuki's shield arm was burnt, and she has a couple of broken ribs, but that is all."

Akio was used to being the bearer of bad news, yet he hesitated. He looked to Leiko. She listened to the silence for a moment. She lifted her eyes and met his, then she turned to look at Haru. He already knew what she was going to say: he almost wanted to tell her not to bother saying it. But he wasn't fast enough, and the words stayed caught in his throat.

"And Eiji's dead."

The words dropped to his stomach like lead.

He said: "I'm sorry."

Leiko chuckled: it was a rough, bitter thing. Like she'd choked on it halfway through.

"Don't be. There's nothing we could've done: he died when he hit the tree. And even if he hadn't... I talked to the doctor. His ribs were shattered: there were shards of bones that went into his lungs. His liver was completely pulverized by the Fatalis' tail. The tail spikes left three gaping holes in his chest... He would've bled out. It just..."

She swallowed a sob, or the memory of his broken corpse. Akio extended an arm and an offer for comfort; Leiko nestled up against his side, but never stopped facing Haru.

"The impact with the tree bruised his spine and cracked his skull: that's how he died. The doctor said... That, at least, it was quick. He didn't have time to suffer too much."

She let out a long, shaky breath. She let go of Akio and sat back down, mumbling "Just... give me a minute."

She buried her face in her hands and sighed. Haru wanted to get up and hug her: instead, he looked to Akio for some sort of comfort. Akio pursed his lips around an apology, or some sort of reassurance that it would be alright: she'd be fine. To just give her a bit of time.

Leiko lifted her face and chuckled dryly.

"And, anyway... We could've tied him up and locked him in a windowless room, he still would've found a way to get to the fight and get himself killed. Somehow. He's... was a pain in the ass like that."

She stared at the ground in front of her, looking like she was gathering the strength to get up again. When Akio lay his hand on her shoulder, she looked up to him and found it. He helped her up so that she would not have to whimper. She took care not to strain him, so that he would not have to either.

Something in Haru healed. It made him think that everything would be alright.

* * *

Kyoko's stomach dropped to her heels in a thump. She felt the noise like a shock wave that echoed through her chest, shaking her resolve; her foundations.

He lay his emerald gaze upon her and she felt her cheeks flare up, but she didn't look away. It was less a show of confidence, and more an irresistible urge. With each of his steps she could feel her heart bloom like a flower and a butterfly flutter up all the way to her throat. She watched as the setting sun traced his figure, and she couldn't help but wonder how it was that light always found it's way to him.

"You said you wanted to tell me something once we'd beaten the Fatalis?"

His voice melted a hole in her chest and resolve. She could feel it in her shaky legs: she stood up before she lost the courage to face him.

"Yeah."

He waited.

"I..."

She felt as if the words were desperately trying to be let out, and simultaneously caging themselves at the back of her throat, just besides the last pangs of bitterness. What if she said nothing? What if she kept living her life, keeping this flame like a secret within her chest? She looked away while she pondered.

He waited.

His gaze burned a pleasant hole in her neck, not quite unlike a warm sob. She gave up, shoulders falling, letting out something of a chuckle, more like a sigh.

"You know I'm in love with you, right?"

She'd gone back to share their stare and so she noticed when he froze. She watched his eyebrows rise, she watched his lips part where she wished unspoken words were a kiss. She felt his confusion, his guilt, his sadness: like a storm in his eyes, like a feeling that settled in her stomach. Something that gave her courage and resolve and regret and sadness.

"From the very beginning." She broke the silence so that he would not have to, or so she could let out everything she'd kept hidden and chained when she'd wanted it bright and free. "Our eyes met, and it was over. I just knew it. It was like you'd stabbed a hole in my chest and everything I'd ever believed to be true had started pouring out. I didn't believe in love at first sight. I hardly believed in love: I thought it was just something people said they felt because that was normal. You proved me wrong."

She smiled, something bittersweet, and it illuminated her eyes like the stars.

"I didn't care that you didn't like me. I could kind of understand where you were coming from, you know? Some new girl shows up and now she's responsible for all of these people's safety. It's a scary thought, to put people's lives in someone's hands when you don't even know them. And it's not like these people were strangers, either. Truth is, I admired that in you. It showed how fierce you were about protecting the people around you. No, about protecting everyone. It showed resolve, and determination, and strength. It showed that you cared, and you were willing to stand your ground and fight if you thought that something was wrong."

 _It showed insecurity, fear, intolerance, disrespect and arrogance_ were the things he'd learned and realized since then, and the things he did not say.

"And somewhere along the line, you warmed up to me. The first time you said something nice to me, I was so happy I thought I was going to die. Slowly, I got to know you, and the more I knew, the more I fell in love with you. I fell in love with your need to protect everyone, I fell in love with your resolve, I fell in love with the way you always held your head up high even when you were scared, I fell in love with the way you always seemed so in control, and I fell in love with the way you made everyone around you feel so safe. You made me feel safe. It didn't matter if there was the Gore Magala two meters way from me and I had no idea how to deal with it: if you were there, I knew everything was going to be alright."

As she listed off a hundred and one reasons, she felt emotion gather as a lump in her throat. She smiled through it, swallowed around it, and looked into his eyes to steady herself.

"You know, it's funny. You've always seemed like you... admired me for having slain the Shagaru Magala. But I've always credited my victory – hell, the entire reason I found the courage to go up against the damn thing – to you. To the way you made _me_ feel like I could do it. That _I_ was in control. That _I_ was strong enough to take it down."

"I had nothing to do with your victory."

She smiled that he felt the need to reinforce that. She smiled because maybe he was right.

"Maybe. But you did give me courage. And that's not something you can deny. And I think... I think you still do. Even if you can't be mine. I think just seeing you be you, with your strength, the way you're able to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders, it helps me. I think your existence, your presence, helps everyone around you."

She saw in his eyes that something in him didn't quite believe her. Maybe it was how his shoulders slouched, every so slightly, imperceptibly, when she mentioned that they could carry the world. And her heart reached out to him, so hard she thought it might break out of her chest.

"And I think... You're stronger than you believe."

There was a flash of recognition in his irises. Something that washed over her like a wave, that hit her like a bolt of lightning, sending showers of tingles down her spine, dazzling. It flared up in her chest until it settled into a slow burning, warm, pleasant. It spread over her shoulders and to the tip of her fingers like a memory, or a wish come true.

She opened her mouth to speak but Akio took a step forward and her breathing hitched. Softly, he extended his good arm to bring her to himself, laying her head against his chest, careful not to touch her scorched back.

Warmth spread through her, and she closed her eyes.

"Thank you," he said.

Kyoko smiled through the tears rolling down her cheeks.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

As Akio finished getting dressed for his wedding, he heard the rustling of the flaps of his tent, and turned around expecting Hana.

"Hello, lad."

And he froze, eyes wide, mouth hung half-open on the greeting he'd planned. Masato gave a half-smile, something that sent warmth in Akio's chest, without the piercing pain he'd learned to expect from his scar.

"But, I didn't..."

"Of course you didn't. But you were also the only one who didn't expect Hana to invite me, regardless of what you wanted, or said you did."

Akio let his features soften and his shoulders fall.

"Did you really think I would be too busy to attend your wedding?" Masato continued.

The Ace Commander shrugged, and the ghost of a smile played on his lips.

"I didn't want to bother you."

"You are an idiot."

Akio sighed, although it was more of a chuckle. Something that dissipated the nervousness slowly settling in his stomach.

"I most likely am."

There was a twinkle in Masato's eye, a glimmer that made his constant half-smile somewhat brighter. It shone so bright in that moment that Akio felt it's warmth all the way to his spine, where it radiated in pleasant tendrils across his chest. He stood straighter, and folded his lips as if to mimic his master's.

Masato watched him for a moment. Then, he said: "Good job, lad."

The Ace Commander nodded so he would not have to speak around the lump slowly forming in his throat.

"About everything. The girl, the wedding. The saving of the world."

"Haru is the one to be congratulated for that."

"I will go and congratulate the boy when I do. For now, I'm congratulating you."

Masato had taken on a somewhat stern look. Akio's smile did not fade; it grew.

"Thank you, then."

"You really need to learn to take a compliment, lad," Masato commented as he turned to leave. Halfway out of the tent, he turned his head to look at Akio one last time.

"Your collar is crooked," he noted.

Akio looked down to check and noticed he was right. He straightened it, and then glanced back up to find that Masato was already gone. Softly, he chuckled, and shook his head.

* * *

Haru was a little frantic. When he finally lay his eyes on Yuki, who had her arms crossed under her chest and looked angry, he immediately bee-lined towards her.

"Yuki!"

She turned to look at him, and he was taken aback by the sharp coldness in her eyes. This was certainly the first time he'd seen her upset. However, when she recognized him, her features softened and she let out a sigh.

"Oh. Hi, Haru."

"Is something the matter?" he offered.

She gave an apologetic smile, a small thing that softly tugged at her lips.

"Yes. You notice something's missing?"

He looked around, looked her up and down, tried to find some sort of flaw in her dress (there wasn't one), or anything that seemed out of place. He almost gave up, until the obvious finally occurred to him.

"Wait. Where's Hana?"

Yuki extended her arms in demonstration.

"Exactly."

By the look Yuki wore, Haru felt he'd pressed something he shouldn't have. Curiosity never managed to completely drown guilt, but it was enough, this time.

"Hana, Miss I-have-huge-fucking-commitment-issues, isn't here. Surprise, surprise. Oh, this isn't the first time she's flaked, I'm used to it by now."

"Hana has commitment issues?" Haru wondered out loud. Yuki made a face.

"You didn't know I even existed before I showed up. She'd never spoken a word about me! You thought she was straight, for fuck's sake! Well guess what. Guess how long we've been together."

Haru didn't dare venture a guess. He slightly pursed his lips.

"Seven years. Seven _fucking_ years! And she didn't even mention me once! I'm sure if she could've, she wouldn't even have told you guys we're together."

"That's, uh... Jeez."

"Yes. Yes, you're right. And you know what? I know exactly what she's thinking right now. She's scared, because she thinks showing up to a wedding as a couple is too serious. As if anyone would give half a shit. But, noooo, Miss has to preserve this imaginary fucking boundary that separates whatever fucked up idea she's got of commitment and whatever fucked up idea she's got of liberty. You'd think seven years would've breached that at some fucking point."

Haru didn't know what to say, so he didn't say anything. Even when she looked at him as she paused, clearly leaving him an opportunity to talk, or to tell her to stop, if he wanted to. When he didn't, she continued.

"Oh, this isn't the first time. I've been suffering through this since the beginning. But I don't leave, because I tell myself: that's what she wants. She wants to push me away, because she's scared. And fucked if I'm gonna let that happen. But this isn't about me: this is Akio's wedding, god dammit! This isn't just some random thing I've invited her to, it's Akio's fucking wedding! You'd think she'd have the decency to think about Leiko and him, at the very god damn least! You'd think she'd find the courage to face her damn fears for the people who are basically her family!"

Yuki looked like she could go on, but instead she stopped, and let out a long sigh. She took a moment to squeeze the bridge of her nose with both hands, taking a deep breath, and letting it out.

"Ah. I'm sorry. This isn't your problem. Forget about it."

And as if to help him, she wore her usual smile again. It was almost as if she'd suddenly become a completely different person, but the transformation was so seamless that Haru felt completely at ease again. Like she'd absorbed and destroyed all the tension she'd previously established.

"Did you need something?" she asked.

"Ah. Uh... no. I was just looking for Hana, actually. I know Masato's the one who's going to walk Akio down the aisle, but... yeah."

"Oh, don't worry, she'll show up. Eventually."

* * *

Traditionally, the bride and groom would be walked down the aisle by their respective fathers.

However, as Hideaki stood besides her, Leiko knew she would have wanted no one else at her side in this moment. And when she looked up, to the groom standing there, softly squeezing the scarf that would unite them between his fingers, Leiko thought to herself that there had never been a single moment in her life where she had belonged more.

She had felt quiet certainty many times; almost all of them when she looked into the eyes that now watched her with wonder. Yet in this exact moment, Leiko knew more certainly than anything that she was at exactly the right place, at exactly the right time.

The feeling only grew as she walked forward. Step by step, fear was washed away, nervousness dissipated, all consumed by the flame that slowly burned in her chest. And when she finally stood before Akio and watched the tears reflected in his eyes, she smiled softly.

He offered his hand, palm towards the sky where she lay the tips of her fingers, and he weaved the scarf around her scarred knuckles. Once he was done, she weaved the other end around his. This was the bond between their souls, where their fingers intertwined and would stay so until the end of time. Even if they did not believe in eternity.

They both stepped forward and lay their foreheads against one another's. There would be no grand vows, only whispers, theirs and theirs alone.

Leiko begun, her voice barely a breath:

"I've never believed in fate. And I don't think that this is going to change anything between us. When I fall, you catch me. When I falter, you hold me up. When you crumble, I hold you together. If you break, I rebuild you. There is nothing we cannot face."

Akio smiled, and, as always, it awoke in her chest the slow burning of a flame that consumed her.

"You are the light of my world. Perhaps this isn't quite poetic, but I am immensely grateful for everything you have done for me; for the love you have given me and the one you have allowed me to feel. And I know that we will stand together until the day our legs refuse to carry us, and even then we will hold each other up until we can stand again. I love you."

Love poured from her and salted her cheeks. He wiped the tears off of the corners of her smile.

"I love you."

And as they kissed and their fingers intertwined, the knowledge that everything would be alright was not fleeting; it settled in their hearts as their love had, long ago, and radiated along their spines and chests in the place where, at their core, they held each other.

They separated, fingers still interlaced, to face the crowd. As one, Haru, Hana, Hideaki, Masato, Kyoko, Yuki, Ayame, her wife, the Caravaneer, and his crew, all stood and bowed to acknowledge the bond the red scarf and their words had carved into the streams of fate, eternity and life. Their souls now bound and unbreakable.

Leiko turned her face to watch Akio watch her; through the tears and a smile, she said:

"This is a lot of fuss for a promise, isn't it?"

"Yes. Yes, it is."

Because they had never needed fate to bend to their love in the first place.


End file.
